Bringing a little class and sophistication to the Paddock Stage on a Saturday afternoon was Lauren Ray the only artist of the weekend to solely use a keyboard, which immediately meant her sound was just a little bit different from everybody else.
Starting with "Drive" from her debut album Lauren filled the Paddock Stage with just her voice and the keyboard to great effect. Driving around Europe supporting Anastasia earlier in the year was to provide the inspiration for the next song "Dull Ache" about that feeling of loss that never goes away on the sudden loss of a partner - this was a first chance for many of us to hear her new songs played live, and this and the earlier single "2 Days" still sounded compelling even without the additional instrumentation.
Lauren was to prove to be great company with a gentle sense of humour that nicely balanced with some of the subjects touched on by her songs..
The final 2 songs brought the set to a suitably rousing close, the sumptuously inviting chorus of "One Of The Lucky Ones" that you could not help but feel you should be singing along with. The final song "Come To Me" is another of those songs that sneaks up on you with the gentle verse leading to the lush chorus and all of a sudden you are hooked before realising the serious subject matter of the song and it's plea to someone to leave their circle of abuse with the order "Damn well put one foot in front of the other!".. a great performance from a great singer, absolutely the perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon!
Lauren has a new EP coming soon and a launch show at The Troubadour Earls Court on Aug 2nd