Lighten Up, the forthcoming album from Erin Rae, is sure to be delightful. That may sound like a vague prediction but it’s based on some scientific fact. The first single, “True Love’s Face,” hits like an unearthed single from the best days of Fleetwood Mac. That alone would be enough to firmly establish belief in future goodness but with the release of second single “Modern Woman” there’s no room left for doubt about the potency of the future release.
The track is a pleasantly rollicking number driven by Rae’s acoustic strumming and a classic country back beat that feels instantly familiar. Not derivative, just recognizable from a place deep within. This familiarity gets twisted once you start paying attention to the lyrics in which Rae muses on the role of “Woman” both as a stereotype in society and how the term is defined in general. It’s summed up quite nicely with the chorus:
Round up the old perceptions
Lay them on down
They’re only tellin’ stories and they’re
gettin’ in the way right now
Cause you can’t see the future
Can’t change the past
Come see a modern woman
If you weren’t paying attention to the lyrics, the video does a phenomenal job of augmenting that message by profiling a number of different women across a wide spectrum. It’s a very simple presentation but it cranks the effectiveness and enjoyability of the song up 1,000%. Not to get all academic on it but Marshall McLuhan once said “The medium is the message” – meaning that the format and the delivery of a given idea can greatly impact the message it delivers. There may be Classic Country feels to this song but that’s what makes the message so effective; it’s a subversive delivery itself.
“Modern Woman” is excellent on many levels, not the least of which being that it’s a great sign of whats to come with the full-length Lighten Up due in February of 2022. We’re looking forward to it, to say the least.
