SINGLE REVIEW: LAKELIN LEMMINGS - PARKING LOT / AMERICAN DREAMIN' / BABY DADDY

#TEAMw21 tirelessly work to bring you tomorrow's stars today championing the likes of Elby Faser, Alyssa Flaherty and Macartney Reinhardt and in Lakelin Lemmings we may have unearthed another worthy of your attention. Lakelin, is a 19 year old singer songwriter from Henderson, West Tennessee yet there is already something in her writing that marks her out as one to watch.

"Parking Lot" is a "small town" song, but rather than follow the established route of songs of this type, in either trying to escape from or return to her home town, Lakelin simply celebrates it and lets you know why in the most descriptive of ways. The centre of this affectionate tribute is the at first unlikely prospect of the parking lot, yet so beautifully is it painted in her lyrics that it becomes a reality before your eyes.

Penned by Lakelin alongside co-writer Tiffany Goss and the track’s producer, Ash Bowers, there is an immediate, attention grabbing atmosphere created by a big drum and electric guitar intro, slightly softened by the sound of a mandolin. The opening verse, with an economy of words, just provides little snapshots of what it is like - the line about "Potholes" lets you know that this is not totally seen through rose tinted glasses. There is also a nice link into the chorus

"Sun burnt fade on the black top

Potholes been there for years

Watchin’ cars, goin’ by

Country songs, up high

First kiss, long list

Of everything that happens in a ....."

Lakelin leads us into the chorus where we get to the crux of the matter about what life is like for the youth of a small town in West Tennessee. It's a central hub and a hive of activity though again Lakelin does not sugar coat things, the fourth line carries a lot of frustration for the young folk.

"Parking lot in a small town

Friday right around sundown

You show up, and show out

Cause there’s nothing else to do

You win friends, you lose some

You fall in love, and you break up

When you’re 16 your world spins around

A parking lot in a small town"

Later verses show the same style of visually creating a picture by stringing together, a number of fleeting images that are universal enough for us all to be able build a mental picture.

Cowboy hats, flat bills

Tailgates, chrome wheels

Couple loners, a few stoners

Time still stands still in a ....."

With a voice that moves from quaintly reminiscing to full scale balladry Lakelin is well equipped to cope with both and charms at both ends of the spectrum.

There's even room for big eighties style guitar solo, which could have been a little overblown and clunky yet somehow works

There is a nice realisation from Lakelin in the bridge that this time has been in its own way life affirming

"They say you grow up and move on

But I believe

A part of me, will always be

Here in this West Tennessee .. "

There are also two other songs worth checking from Lakelin - the autobiographical "American Dreamin'" which once more celebrates her smalltown origins, but manages to perfectly chime with every young girl out there currently singing into their hairbrush as they have across the ages, to say "Hey I'm just like you."

"I grew up in the heartland

A couple miles off the main road

Singin’ along to every country song with a hairbrush microphone

A little voice inside of me said

Girl this is what you’re born to do

Well, that shootin’ star might take me far

But even if it all comes true, I’m a ..."

That inner voice certainly has served Lakelin well as she displays a range and control well ahead of her tender years. That chorus manages to touch upon nearly all of the cornerstones of being a female country singer. It's stirring stuff and comes with a suitably uplifting pop country anthem sound over which Lakelin is most certainly in charge

"Hometown touchdown Friday

Daddy’s girl raised up the right way

Four wheels flyin’ down the highway

Look out world, here I come

Born country always gonna be it

Good book you bet I believe it

Red, white, and blue sky reachin’

Small town American dreamin"

With her sights set suitably high yet equally seemingly grounded, this determination will surely pay dividends

"In the choir on a Sunday

Or the Grand Ole Opry in Tennessee

Put me on a stage in New York City"

It must be said that this article nearly came to an abrupt halt on learning of the song "Baby Daddy" which is one of our least favourite American phrases of recent years. What a relief it was to find that this piano ballad from 2023, was actually a tribute to her father and nothing else!

"You've been my hero since the day I was born

Do anything to shield me from the storm

And I know you're praying,

The days ahead will go by slow - well me too"

But we both know...."

These type of songs in recent years have become a seemingly a rite of passage and therefore only those that have the ring of truth about then survive critical appraisal and Lakelin more than delivers on this front.

"Someday I'm going to grow up

Put a little bit of dirt under these wheels

Show the world what I'm made of

Maybe fall for a country boy like you

Love like crazy, college maybe

But nothing's going to change me

I'll always be your Baby, Daddy"

Delivered with a sincerity, destined to make grown men weep across the world - it's most definitely a fitting tribute.

All of this in itself would surely be enough for giving Lakelin Lemmings the #TEAMw21 seal of approval yet there is more, as with each of the earlier singles comes an acoustic stripped back version.

"American Dreamin'" becomes a banjo, mandolin fest still having all the energy of the earlier version just more countrified and slightly less poppy. "Baby Daddy" transfers from piano to guitar, presumably to the sound of when it was originally created.

These three songs in all their various versions are the announcement of a definite new talent emerging and one that we here at #TEAMw21 look forward to seeing progress.