By Deuce

Lauren G evinces a couple of fairly distinctive styles during her latest release, the single “Main Focus”, which dropped May 22. It’s difficult to gauge which predominates the track; both seem to work equally well.

The first is a husky type of voice, more modest in pitch, but with harbingers of a proclivity for hitting high notes. Check out the introduction and the first couple bars of the first verse for this one. It’s a smooth style that glides over the plodding track showered with 808 snares (among other instruments).

The second is an airy type of soprano that sounds delicate and is prone to sprucing up the hook via overdubs. It’s certainly effectual in that regard, and gives this part of the tune a pointed appeal that adds to its overall attractiveness.

The sound of this record is urban contemporary, illustrating the tendency that singers have long had for appropriating musical styles endemic to rap audiences and palliating them. The twist is that many immersed within the field of rap today take a similar approach, with an abundance of melodies that certainly are more befitting of singing records—so that all’s fair game.

But here, we’re talking the aforesaid 808 snare, a healthy heaping of that drum machine’s high hats and, of course, the kicks, which are definitely kicking on this one. One of the more interesting aspects of the music is some sort of Asian sounds, more so than just a koto, that punctuate the tune with aplomb.

All of the above is credited to Lauren, who wrote and produced the track before lighting up the vocal booth. Her melodies are straightforward on the verses, her chorus is one of those that rightfully lingers with the listener, and the arrangement is designed to accentuate this fact by removing all the lows (the drums and the bass, which is noteworthy in and of itself: this song actually has a bass line) to maximize the power of the refrain.

The world will have to wait to see what, exactly, the artist comes with next.