"It's a hard road honey, hanging around like you know me..."
The EP might just be a metaphor for an artist finding his place and persona within "the wild west of the music industry."
Hull adds:
"It can be lonely or over-crowded, have you full of excitement and adrenaline or have you pulling your own hair out," Lawson says. "Either way, for the most part, it’s nothing like you would’ve ever dreamed. You’re a loner because it’s up to you to write the songs and put them out into the world. No one really knows what it is you do or why you do it. Cowboys seem ok with this; being outsiders. In music, there might be some glamour when you get to the top, but for the most part, you’re just a cowboy playing musical chairs, trying to get some traction, trying to get something to land. This year I’ve learnt that confidence goes a long way and backing yourself is vital. Nobody knows how far they’ll go despite their efforts, but hard work pays off somehow, sometimes. You’ve just got to wait for the wind to blow the right way."
The wind feels vast and the sunset bright orange on "Cowboys"
-Robb Donker Curtius
To be an artist, you must ask yourself, who am I to share my ideas and stories? Who am I to think others might find meaning in them? It’s this query that Australian singer-songwriter Lawson Hull tackles on EP, Dreaming is Easy. And while most would agree that music is a potent medicine, Lawson details the many growing pains that come with putting something out into the world. As he notes, “The EP uncovers scenes of heartbreak for close friends and family, the breakdown of relationships, the building of new ones, and the everyday struggle to believe in oneself as a songwriter and artist.” But there are also moments of deep love and appreciation that Lawson explores, and he does so with a lush sensitivity, rooted in folk and dream pop melodies. As a collection of stories, Dreaming is Easy is like a snapshot of Lawson’s life leading up to this release but in a deeper sense, it’s an invitation. As Lawson puts it, “hopefully [it’s] a reflective moment to the listener, to act on their dreams.”
Like many a singer-songwriter, Lawson’s interest in music was first piqued at school and church during which, in his words, he wrote “super cringey songs, like anyone writes.” As he grew older, inspired by a range of artists from Bon Iver to Bombay Bicycle Club, he moved beyond the cringe and began releasing a slew of singles starting in 2015. After his song “Paint” gained traction and a few million plays on Spotify, Lawson was able to record more steadily and completed the five other tracks that would make up Dreaming is Easy.
All but one of the EP’s six songs were recorded with Sydney-based producer Billy Otto, who was able to provide a cohesive sonic palette that speaks to Lawson’s atmospheric guitar playing and his love of the outdoors. “I love forests, mountains, and beach,” he says. “So I wanted to incorporate nature across the board.” Featuring a high dose of reverb and warm stretched out chords, there is a spaciousness that takes on an almost oceanic quality — a larger presence that swallows the listener the way nature does with its overwhelming size and beauty. His songs land in the sonic midst of fellow Australian artists such as Kita Alexander, Angus and Julia Stone and #1 Dads.
The EP’s opener, “Try,” is the only collaboration on the record and the one departure from Lawson’s producer partnership with Otto. Teaming up with Caleb Harris, Tim McArtney and Charlie Finn, “Try” is a mid-tempo pulsing tune about a draining relationship, “where one person is trying way more than the other, and it’s hard to decide whether to go forward or go back.” With Lawson’s vocals on full display, it builds into a layered ballad that sets the emotional tone for the rest of the record. “Bad Habit” is next, and with its chromatic progression, the track has a crooning 60s pop quality marked by Lawson’s self-deprecating plea to get his act together. Thematically, it cuts to the heart of the record with the lyrics, “God only knows the chances I’ve had and everybody thinks I’m trying.” Lawson explains, “I think that maybe people would look at that as an arrogant thing, but I look at it as, every single day I have a chance to do something with music, and I just cannot be bothered to do it. Most of that is just doubt and fear that I never took myself seriously.”
“Paint,” undoubtedly the EP’s love song, is a poetic ode to starting a home with a significant other. Written during the week leading up to Valentine’s Day, it was a rather quick and intuitive process for Lawson, coming straight from the heart. Juxtaposing a minor verse with a more major chorus, the song emphasizes the beauty of being in a relationship while also maintaining independence. It’s the perfect heartstring-pulling prelude to “Keep Running,” a reflection on Lawson’s sister and the familiar feeling of being lost. But it goes further than that as a therapeutic dive into the meaning of kinship. Lawson says, “I think too often siblings go through life like it’s a given that you’re in this together, but you never really say that out loud.”
“Honey” brings the energy back down as the EP nears its end. Acoustic guitar opens the track and carries through for the rest of the song. Switching between his story and a friend’s, Lawson says that “Honey” is about the “blindness that you have during your first, big long-term relationship.” Addressing the darker, more toxic side of being in love, the song is both advice for a friend and the self. But if “Honey” is, at least lyrically on the darker side, “College Town” takes that feeling one step further, with lyrics like, “My oh my can I get a ride, I shouldn’t be out here in the prime of my life.” Diffusing a quiet kind of sadness that only feelings like regret and nostalgia can stir up, “College Town” is about a period of Lawson’s life when he felt lost, having moved from one small town to another. It hits right to the heart of anyone that’s felt like they should be somewhere better, somewhere bigger. But as much as it imbues a sense of loss or sadness, ultimately it is a cathartic acceptance of past choices.
In a way, “College Town” represents what the EP is all about — a culmination for Lawson, proof that he can step up and actualize his dreams. As he says, “It took years for me to act on mine, to get out of bed and decide these songs were good enough for the world to love. The dream was to release an EP, a body of work that brought closure to this chapter of songwriting.” Indeed it has, but as one chapter ends, another begins as Lawson continues to write music and inspire his listeners to get out of bed, and act on their dreams.
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