Genre: Singer-Songwriter, Indie Rock, Folk
“Didn’t you notice all the roses that I left for him?”
Lola Mariek creates a double entendre about complicated romantic feelings in her acoustic single, “Roses”. The lyrics sound straight from the heart as if imported from a diary entry and her voice is chock-full of raw emotion that’s really given the spotlight alongside the warm, beautiful guitar progression. However, I think there is a lot of potential from the singer-songwriter that is being restricted by the inconsistencies in the production of the song. “Roses” has the charm and comforting vulnerability that could bring in listeners, but lacks in areas that would make the song even better and more repeatable.
When you're a songwriter, your journal (or in my case, notes app) is where you get to expunge all of your brain-cluttering thoughts and physically see your creative vision unravel right in front of you as you’re writing. In “Roses”, I am reminded of the simple moments of sitting by yourself with an acoustic guitar on your lap and just allowing your mind to wander through the ink of your ballpoint pen. The lyrics are vulnerable, honest, and sung with conviction: “Didn’t you notice all the roses that I left for him?”. In the first four lines of the song, our protagonist is frustrated with men who don’t take a hint that they’re interested in someone else so they turn to larger romantic gestures to make it obvious. However, after these lines there are lyrics that bring another meaning to the song that involves the protagonist pining over someone and trying to get their attention through displays of affection: “Did you really not see it in my face that I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with all these feelings?” It took me a few listens to pick up on the shift in meaning, but after having looked at the lyrics, I understood much easier. With that in mind, I think the shift could have been executed clearer so that it’s not so hard to catch onto. This potentially could have been achieved with one half of the song focusing on the first meaning and another half focusing on the other just so that there’s a stronger flow throughout it all and less confusion. But, incorporating the double meaning was a great creative idea that allows for there to be multiple interpretations from the listener.
In terms of production, the guitar and vocals are recorded pretty well! I can hear both of them nice and clearly along with the tiny inflections in the vocals that bring out that raw emotion in Lola’s vocal delivery. With that in mind, I do think the mix could have benefited from a bit of compression so that the jump between her singing softly to loud wouldn’t be so wide, and other effects could’ve been used to bump up the overall atmosphere and add to the emotion. There’s also some inconsistency with the tempo, but I don’t think this takes away too much from the song. The lyrics and the vocals are the main focus!
Overall, “Roses” by Lola Mariek is a solid addition to the singer-songwriter genre. The lyrics are honest and her voice is really emotive and beautiful. There’s a lot of potential here that’s being restricted by the inconsistencies in the production with the lack of things like compression and other effects, but I’m excited to see what kind of flower Lola will blossom into as time goes by and I’ll be impatiently waiting to hear her next musical project.
Make sure to check out Lola Mariek and stream her single, “Roses” everywhere you listen to music!
For fans of:
Alice Phoebe Lou
Big Thief
Follow Lola Mariek on Instagram: https://instagram.com/lolamariekofficial?igshid=MmJiY2I4NDBkZg==
Stream “Roses” on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/6mCoQqJH6AvJXJrRWmqv6y?si=QDJs0OaWTm-h4VoKG8pDMA
Stream “Roses” on Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/roses/1677412045?i=1677412046&ls
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