Lauren Alaina - 'Unlocked'

[jab820]

New EP and debut project since signing to Big Loud dropping Friday June 9th, according to Instagram! Two songs will come out tonight. 


1. A Walk In The Bar (Lauren Alaina, Casey Brown, Lydia Vaughan, Parker Welling)
2. Hangovers (John Byron, Greylan James, Josh Osborne, Matt Roy)
3. Don’t Judge A Woman (Autumn McEntire, Joybeth Taylor, Sarah Allison Turner)
4. Smaller The Town (Zach Crowell, Joel Hutsell, Cole Swindell, Hunter Phelps)
5. Like Her (Trannie Anderson, Joe Fox, Emily Landis, Ella Langley)
6. Thicc As Thieves (feat. Lainey Wilson) (Lauren Alaina, Rocky Block, Luke Bryan, Dallas Davidson, Jacob Durrett, Parker Welling)

Source

[dwindeezy]

I’m super stoked to hear these new tracks tonight and honestly I really dig the EP cover. They finally got it right with a cover IMO lol

[marcyjames]

Not a big fan of A Walk In the Bar. It doesn’t really sound like her to me?

Hoping I like the other songs more.

[lipe]

"A Walk In The Bar" performance

[.indulgecountry]

Jun 2, 2023 9:58:40 GMT -5 marcyjames said:

Not a big fan of A Walk In the Bar. It doesn’t really sound like her to me?

There's something a bit... odd for a lack of better word with the melody of that song. I'm not really sure how to properly encapsulate my thoughts on it yet, but it feels like something that may grow on me with time, but after the first couple listens, it's definitely not clicking with me the way I expected it to. Her hookier songs (i.e. Getting Over Him, Ladies in the 90s, Doin' Fine) were so immediate and "A Walk in the Bar" just really isn't. I do prefer it to "Hangovers" though, I think. Both sound like pleasant album cuts though rather than the comeback radio smash I need for Lauren Alaina's career re-launch, so hopefully that song comes from one of the other EP cuts still to come next week.

[lipe]

I love "A Walk in the Bar", it sounds catchy for me. Not really a fan of "Hangovers" and I don't see why she decided to cut this track as she didn't write it and I don't see anything special about it.
I also think it's odd that she decided to release two songs with very conflicting messages on the same day. "A Walk in the Bar" is about a breakup that's super easy to get over and move on and then "Hangovers" is about a breakup that's impossible to get over.

I have to say that with her moving to a new label and taking her time before releasing new music, I was hoping she would come back with some undeniable GREAT songs that would stand out instantly as songs that could change her career... this isn't it so far. But we'll get 4 more songs next week and we don't know which one will be her first radio single, so we'll see.

[dwindeezy]

I kinda want less pop country and more country with a pop pocket. She’s capable of it and I hope Lainey brings that out in her with their track together. Very smart to build on that viral moment.

[zdm1998]

I find the production on Walk Around the Bar great, very similar vibe to Morgan’s Dangerous album, but lyrically it’s a bit underwhelming.

I think Hangovers is lyrically better, but I’m still kinda bored with it.

Hope there’s something more undeniable in the unreleased songs, that they could work to radio, because neither of these two feel like radio singles.

[jab820]

After a lot of listens, "A Walk In The Bar" has grown on me. I still don't think it's what I would've released out of all the new output, but it got a decent amount of Spotify streams in the first few days (with the help of playlisting).

[.indulgecountry]

http://instagram.com/p/CtPRgkALJjI

[g8erboi]

"Don’t Judge A Woman" is classic Lauren and exactly what I needed from her. More like that please! Also, the Lainey duet is GOLD. Such a fun song. Would probably be very polarizing if released to radio though.

[zdm1998]

Don’t Judge a Woman is great. Really digging Smaller the Town as well. I personally think it’d bode well as a single.

[carrieidol1]

Don’t Judge a Woman….


WOW. Lauren never ceases to amaze me. What a song! One of the best true country songs I’ve heard in a long time! If she has a hit in her hands, I think it’s this one. Absolutely floored!

[jab820]

Wow, this project was much better than I expected given the first two songs she released.

"Don't Judge A Woman" holy MOLY. Classic.
"Smaller The Town" sounds so genuine coming from her.
"Like Her" that modern production serves her well. It is very obviously Moi produced. Sounds like it could be on a MW album.
"Thicc As Thieves" what an iconic collaboration. I could see this being a very fun radio single that connects well. It already is outselling/streaming the rest.

You can really tell she is moving away from this big voice/huge note persona that had everyone comparing her to Carrie for the first decade of her career. While I wanted a little more belting than I got on this project, I think I was maybe just expecting it and didn't get it. That said - this is a well-done EP.

I have zero clue what they should go with as the single. My gut tells me "Thicc As Thieves", but Lainey already has 2 singles on the chart. That said, the way she's been performing tells me maybe that doesn't matter. "A Walk In The Bar" is fun but I worry about its performance unless the streams really take off (they have started to).

[bdrm87]

Yeah this EP ended up being much stronger than I feared a week ago. Even the pre-release tracks have grown on me quite a bit. The production here is stellar.

I also have no idea what they should send to radio. I wonder if they already have a plan, or if they’re waiting to see what connects. It’s no surprise Thicc as Thieves is the strongest out of the gate, and I can imagine it being played all over Broadway, but would it be too polarizing for radio? A Walk in the Bar has also gotten a lot of promo, but nothing about it makes me feel like it would break her pattern of “50 weeks to a #24-28 peak.” Very interested to see what they do here.

Regardless of what happens with radio though, this is very strong material, and I think the label change will pay off for her in the long run.

[dwindeezy]

Haven’t fully listened yet but her team definitely capitalized on their whole viral moment with ‘Thicc as Thieves’, Lainey’s rising star and overall musics infatuation and success with sampling and interpolations these days. I’m not too sure how’d it’d do on radio as it feels polarizing but even that “left kick, shimmy” bridge is literally made for a tiktok dance (looks like they already made one for it) and if it connects, wouldn’t be surprised to see them push it at some point (after Watermelon Moonshine peaks) to avoid Lainey overkill on radio.

Going to listen to the rest tonight!

[.indulgecountry]

"Thicc as Thieves" could be a big risk/big reward kind of release. Not sure if it'd be the slam-dunk smash it deserves to be, but it is easily the best song on this EP and sounds like a hit to me, and not just because it has Lainey Wilson's star-power attached to it. But women don't really get to release these type of novelty tracks very often so who knows if it would do well or not. If it were a male behind the mic (think Trace Adkins or Toby Keith back in the day), it'd probably be eaten up with a spoon by country radio. Still, what a BANGER.

"Don't Judge a Woman" is the best of the rest for me. Stunning song. I would love for that to be the show-stopping single it deserves to be, but it would probably flop at radio given her tumultuous history with them. It's likely too smart for country radio and she doesn't have the momentum to make it a hit, I'd wager.

"A Walk in the Bar" isn't one of my favorites by her by any means, but it's probably the 'safest' pick if they are going to send any of these to country radio. I say go all-out with the Lainey Wilson collab, but if not, "Bar" is probably her best bet at something that doesn't die in the 30s or 40s on the chart.

[lipe]

I love everything on the EP besides "Hangovers" and "Like Her" that are just ok.

I would go with "Thicc as Thieves" for the radio single if Lainey's team greenlight it.

Everytime Lauren had a song that connected organically with the audience, it wasn't released as a single. "What Do You Think Of?" could be big and while it didn't sound country, they could've tried SOMETHING with it. "Good Ole Boy" wasn't released either and also "Dirt Road Prayer" waaay back then. So it would be a shame if Lauren has another song that seems to be connecting very well (Thicc as Thieves) and it isn't released as a single once again.

[.indulgecountry]

[raylatch98]

"Thicc as Thieves" does have a couple of stations playing it so in addition to consumer interest maybe radio is intrigued by that one. I am not the biggest on that song myself but if it gets Lauren Alaina a solo radio hit she deserves I am all for it being released

[recordyear]

Jun 15, 2023 15:42:32 GMT -5 raylatch98 said:

"Thicc as Thieves" does have a couple of stations playing it so in addition to consumer interest maybe radio is intrigued by that one. I am not the biggest on that song myself but if it gets Lauren Alaina a solo radio hit she deserves I am all for it being released

Didn't that song feature Lainey Wilson (and is responsible for the interest)?

[austin]

The cover for this is so awkward. She kept the streak of having the most oddest cover photos for a mainstream artist I have ever seen lol. She’s a beautiful woman, why are her poses always so awkward?

ETA: “Thicc as Thieves” is the obvious single here. The rest are nice but not radio comeback songs.

[jab820]

I agree that "Thicc As Thieves" needs to be sent to radio.

While it climbs, they should slowly begin promoting "Don't Judge A Woman". That is a sleeper hit waiting to happen.

[g8erboi]

I’m seeing a lot of TikToks pop up with the "Thicc As Thieves" dance, I wouldn’t be surprised if it blows up and becomes her first true smash since "What Ifs".

[jab820]

“Thicc As Thieves” got an add earlier this week. Interesting to see if it continues getting random trickle ads that will maybe steer Big Loud on what to do.

I honestly think their game plan was to push “A Walk In The Bar” given how it’s been promoted. But, they’re smart over there and know when a moment is happening. If the slow adds for "Thicc As Thieves" continue + the song works on Tik Tok, they should go ahead and push it like they did for Hailey Whitters.

[dwindeezy]

Jun 23, 2023 23:31:27 GMT -5 jab820 said:

“Thicc As Thieves” got an add earlier this week. Interesting to see if it continues getting random trickle ads that will maybe steer Big Loud on what to do.

I honestly think their game plan was to push “A Walk In The Bar” given how it’s been promoted. But, they’re smart over there and know when a moment is happening. If the slow adds for "Thicc As Thieves" continue + the song works on Tik Tok, they should go ahead and push it like they did for Hailey Whitters.

Yea I completely agree with you looking at it with similar streams as Gabby’s latest single, getting 50k+ daily streams and growing without a ton of editorial playlisting. I think they should let it build a nice streaming foundation, allow some early adds to trickle in while Lainey’s songs to get higher (top 20+) on radio to avoid competition and if it works on TikTok, send it to radio. It definitely has grown on me

[dwindeezy]

My bad for the double post but at the time of my last post Thicc as Theives was getting about 50k daily Spotify streams and how it’s doubled to 100k. Going to be interesting to see what happens next especially with her performing an unreleased song on The Bachelorette on Monday, which is usually good for a solid boost for artists.

[jab820]

And now an add for “A Walk in the Bar.” Anyone able to see which 2 stations have added her songs? I wonder if they’re her local stations or something, or if they’re the same one.

[bdrm87]

Jul 4, 2023 0:32:44 GMT -5 jab820 said:

And now an add for “A Walk in the Bar.” Anyone able to see which 2 stations have added her songs? I wonder if they’re her local stations or something, or if they’re the same one.

“Thicc as Thieves” is on WCKN in Charleston, while “A Walk in the Bar” is on KKBQ in Houston. Not sure about WCKN, but KKBQ have been big early supporters of her in the past, so BL may be testing listener response on stations that are actually used to hearing her before officially sending something to radio.

[jab820]

I would hate for her new team to make the exact same mistake her team made when they relaunched her in 2015. "Next Boyfriend" sounded radio ready and streamed (sold) well, but the bigger hit "Road Less Traveled" was sitting right there. In the end NB flopped and RLT took OTV to make it happen.

As much as I think "A Walk in the Bar" could work, and it's certainly streaming alright, the bigger hit is "Thicc As Thieves". Sure, Lainey has like 3 singles at radio, but I don't think that's a problem really.

Big Loud has one shot to make this work. They've done great so far, but the real test is to see how/if they can revive a radio relationship for LA like they did with Jake Owen. It was admittedly easier for him as he had many major hits while LA has one and a few features.