Another foretaste of the treats to come on New Girl Syndrome – the forthcoming EP from NZ-born, LA-based singer-songwriter Lisa Crawley. The Gatekeeper is bright, bubbly and hard-hitting…
Release Date: 11th April
Label: Self release
Formats: Digital
GROWING ANTICIPATION…
The excitement is building…
Anticipation for New Girl Syndrome, the forthcoming EP from New Zealand-born, Los Angeles-resident singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and sessioneer Lisa Crawley is growing by the day, and not just within the pages of At The Barrier, either. Publications as prestigious as Rolling Stone AU expect the new disc to build upon the success of its 2024 EP predecessor, Love (In A Major). On the evidence of The Gatekeeper, the second single to be taken from the EP, those expectations are fully justified.
MORE ‘UPFRONT’ THAN ‘SOPHISTICATED?’
Lisa’s career to date has been highly eventful. She’s performed with the Auckland Symphony Orchestra, opened for top-division artists like Suzanne Vega, John Mayer, Paul Weller and Simply Red. Her music has also featured in numerous television and movie productions. Just a few weeks ago, we described What You Can Do, the first single to be taken from the forthcoming EP as: “A triumph…rich and sophisticated, giving prominence to Lisa’s vocals and lyrical message.”
New single, The Gatekeeper is, perhaps, more ‘upfront’ than ‘sophisticated’ but it’s thoroughly enjoyable and no less triumpohant. It’s a bright, bubbly song with lyrics that get straight to the point that Lisa is making. And that point is along the lines of: “Go away – you’ve lost your chance to play any part in my life.” As Lisa says: “I hope that listeners will hear it and be reminded to know their worth and be selective about who gets to have a say in your life.”
THE GATEKEEPER
A tasty piano theme provides the drive to the song and the strong drumbeat and rich bassline help propel things along. Lisa’s vocals are confident yet endearing and there’s a couple of nice, crisp, guitar solos thrown in for good measure. The Gatekeeper is one of those songs that you’ll find yourself singing, long after you’ve taken the record off the (metaphorical) turntable.
The accompanying video is fun, too. Presented as a quasi-‘mockumentary,’ it features actor/ musician Paul Adelstein and shows a succession of would-be musical partners attempting to impose their dubious talents upon Lisa’s work. “It felt almost a little too close to home,” she says…
And you can watch that ‘…too close to home’ video below:
Lisa Crawley online: Official Website / Facebook / Instagram / X (formerly Twitter) / You Tube / Spotify
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