LOWRY LANE – Single Review: “Find a Way”

As I’ve mentioned before on this blog, one of the things I love about Twitter is that every single day I learn about at least a couple of new artists or bands I wasn’t previously aware of. And it’s an added treat when some of them turn out to be really good musicians, as well as nice people. So it was when I got acquainted with the talented young German singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Lowry Lane, who released his debut single “Find a Way” in late September.

Born Paul Friebe, Lowry named his musical project after English painter L. S. Lowry. He’s been writing poetry and music for more than a decade, and states in his bio that he “was inspired by the naive and bold simplicity of Andy Warhol and the sobering and disillusioning insights of Hunter S. Thompson.” He goes on to describe Lowry Lane as “the vehicle for his musical self discovery, which aims to recklessly unfold the inherent conflicts he finds within himself and in the world around him.”

The first thing that comes to mind when listening to “Find a Way” is how much it reminds me of Nirvana. The melodically complex track shifts back and forth from quiet to loud, with grungy guitar riffs over a strong bassline and aggressive percussion. Further, Lowry’s gritty vocals sound strikingly similar to Kurt Cobain. He laments the gloomy lyrics about feeling numb and hopeless about his life:

I haven’t found a way to find a way to live
I haven’t found a way to finally forgive
I can’t feel it anyway
Maybe I was never meant to be OK

He lays down some scorching hot riffs in the bridge, and I love when at 3:45 he suddenly pauses and shouts “Holiday on the pavement! Fell in love with a vagrant!” as if he’s in a brief manic state of mind. It’s a great song, and Lowry exhibits a dark charismatic quality as he performs the song in the video. And that awesome hair!