Album Review: Lauran Hibberd - 'Garageband Superstar'
‘Garageband Superstar’ weighs up the pros and cons of being in the spotlight and has an underlying sense of seeking the freedom from the burden of comparing yourself to others.
English singer-songwriter Lauran Hibberd is set to release her debut album ‘Garageband Superstar’ on the 19th of August. The album has reoccurring themes of longing to be free from feeling like you’re not enough, as well as the desire to be something more than just how you’re perceived as an artist by the public. Lauran’s ability to combine powerful and perhaps even complex at times emotions with alt-pop themes throughout the album and tongue-in-cheek lyrics make ‘Garageband Superstar’ a powerful debut album. It’s easy to see why Lauran Hibberd has earned herself 174, 603 monthly listeners on Spotify.
The album’s title track ‘Garageband Superstar’ captures the pressures artists have to deal with every day in their lives, particularly in relation to how the public views them. ‘Garageband Superstar’ talks about the negative aspects of being in the spotlight, that the public may not necessarily consider as something that often comes hand in hand with an artist’s job.
And the album’s second track ‘Still Running’ very much captures the feeling that there’s always people in your life that are doing much better than you, which is something that anyone listening to this track may be able to strongly relate to. ‘Still Running’ presents itself as a track that could ultimately become an anthem that’s about no longer allowing yourself to compare yourself to others or diminish your achievements, it’s time to celebrate yourself and be a little kinder to yourself as well.
‘That Was A Joke’ is a track that immediately sounds and feels like fun when you’re listening to it, it brings a dynamic to the album that compliments the rest of the tracks so well. “‘That Was A Joke’ lives in a world of denial, and sometimes its better like that,” Hibberd explained, and maybe she’s right – maybe sometimes it’s easier for yourself, and perhaps for a short time makes you happier, if you don’t always acknowledge what happened straight away.
The alt-pop single ‘I’m Insecure’ embraces being open about the insecurities in your head and how they make you feel. Hibberd’s delivery of the track is phenomenal, the way that she has created a powerful track that still has its tongue-in-cheek moments via some of the lyrics and the fun edge the track has to it because of this may not be an easy combination for other artists to create but for Hibberd it seems effortless.
‘Slimming Down’ is more subdued and is more of a potential heartbreak anthem. The melancholy lyrics paired with the guitars give this track the feeling of becoming a well-loved breakup song, or even potentially just a sad song for happy people. There’s something about this track that seems to have the capacity to receive the same sort of attention that Taylor Swift and Phoebe Bridgers' songs do, which makes it incredibly exciting to see what is in store for Lauran Hibberd in the future.
Lauran Hibberd’s debut album packs a punch and promises even more great things from her in the future, if she was able to make such an impact with her first album then anything that follows in the wake of ‘Garageband Superstar’ is sure to be just as equally great.
Words by Bethany Ellis
