At age 22, Americana singer-songwriter Loren Cole already writes deep-dives into the human condition that garner comparisons to the songs of Tift Merritt, Lori McKenna and other decorated veterans.
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That's not to paint Cole as inexperienced. The small town Michigan native sharpened her talents the old-fashioned way, sharing stages with Mike Mains & The Branches, The Accidentals, Joe Hertler and The Rainbow Seekers and even Jewel while maintaining her nostalgic, curious and warm tone. The latest fruit from those labors is her sensibly-titled debut album For The Sake of Being Honest.
The single we premiere today, "Father Time," is another step in Cole's quest to keep her ongoing musical narrative honest and pure. Like other talented folk songwriters, she achieves this by pointing the lens at her own internal dialogue.
"'Father Time' is about savoring where you are, as you are, in the here and now," she says. "Nothing lasts forever. Life, love, youth, Earth and even time itself have limitations that inevitably cause them to run their course. Like a flame, we tend to realize their impermanence only when they're gone, and we're left in darkness. In the lyric, I'm asking Father Time to slow this process down, and simultaneously reminding myself to take stock of and appreciate what I do have, rather than what I don't."
Henry Was, the son of record exec Don Was, sat in the producer's chair. This opened the door for another member of that musical family to add to Cole's whimsical vision. "(Henry's) brother, Sol Was, plays bass and ended up laying down parts for about half the songs," she says. "Sol works primarily with a lot with hip-hop and rap artists like Felly and Gyyps, which couldn't be further from the type of music I write. 'Father Time' in particular verges more towards down-the-barrel folk music, and Sol absolutely nailed the role. So yeah - I'd say having a blue-haired rapper/hip-hop artist play bass on my very very folk record is pretty interesting."
For a lot of fans, it's the first sip from that barrel. Between Cole's salt-of-the-earth wisdom and the Was clan's in-studio magic, you'll want another drink when the album arrives on Aug. 24.
