Lánre
Album: Pen Voyage Chapter 1 Singing For Change
Label: Self Released
Tracks: 10
Website: http://www.lanreworld.com

Whilst Nigerian born, singer-songwriter, Lánre, has paid a certain amount of dues doing her performances in bars, cafes and the almost obligatory charity events that seem to be part of the circuit if you want to establish yourself in London outside of the cliques and collectives, there is a lot more to the title "Pen Voyage Chapter 1 Singing For Change", then merely hoping for a little coin to drop into your guitar case.

There's a lot more to it than a dig at the amount that might be left from a song after the label, publisher, agent, manager etc. have had a cut should you decide to go down the artist, major label route, in fact there's a whole lot of thoughts and attitudes tied up in that simple title, including music still being a force for change.

Lánre takes a multi lingual approach to the album, but predominantly performs in English. The songs, whilst having a soulful, almost gospel sound to them, sit firmly within the folk, story tradition and are very modern in their narrative. Quite a lot of the subject matter deals with issues, such as freedom of expression and of spirit. There is a sense of belief in her approach to songs, but it's not preachy and more important it sounds like it comes from within, no need for fancy words, just the right ones.

I know this next bit is going to sound a bit cliché, but I'm going to go with it anyway. Lánre hasn't got what I would call the perfect soul voice, but the voice she has got is definitely real and full of character. You can pick up touches of the bar singer about her and it suits the songs perfectly. Lánre is definitely an artist with a future and "Pen Voyage Chapter 1 Singing For Change" is definitely a big step along the way.

Neil King