Having made his name as part of Philly favourites The Districts, Braden Lawrence is preparing to release his debut solo album with Anxiety Blanket Records later this year. Lead single ‘Living in America’ gives an indication as to what to expect from the release. A track written during a move from the East Coast to California, both pining for what was left behind and embracing the inherent romance the journey westward. “It was written and recorded in my room in Los Angeles,” as Lawrence explains, “shortly after making the classic American ‘move out west’. I felt woozy, romantic, and sad and was listening to a lot of John Prine and Elliott Smith at the time.”
Prine is a good reference point for the song. Because though the old American myths hang over the song—from classic country heartache to the LA’s promise of dreams—there’s a wryness which runs in opposition to this mood. As though Braden Lawrence is both subject to the romance of these tropes and aware of their absurdity. “A song to sway to through the strangeness of being alive,” as he describes it. And, like Prine before him, he manages to convey this duality without undermining the sincerity of the emotion on show. Because what is living in America if not drugs and God and Jar Jar Binks and a sense of unending longing?
and it’s so hard to mend a broken heart
and it was so weird seeing you by the mini mart
now there’s an angel singing in my ear
(that’s actually your tinnitus dear)well I loved you like a Christian loves the bible
and I need you like your father needs his bottles
Watch the video directed and filmed by Dalton Pate below:
‘Living in America’ is out now and available from Bandcamp. Braden Lawrence’s debut album will be released later in the year via Anxiety Blanket Records.
