"Elevate" by Sara Lugo

 

"Elevate"

Thought I was dead didn't you (that's okay, maybe I was)? If ever there were something that would get me interested in writing again --and I didn't know if there was-- it wouldn't be a line of tremendously fantastic albums over the years or one massive piece of terrible news from about a year ago (Rest Easy King). What it would be, however, would be something which was not only equally inherently interesting and challenging, but something undeniably COMFORTING as well. When we were active, I had favourite subjects to write about which were my favourites for a variety of different reasons and, CLEARLY, one such topic was the downright remedying and always allaying Sara Lugo. We immediately took an interest in the singer and, all these years later, she ranks amongst the greatest musicians I have EVER come across and I am a, until I end, a fan.

So, although I definitely have paid attention to her output over the years (including one MAMMOTH shot by the name of 'Woman On A Mission'), her latest project was one I was really looking forward to and, today I hope my loose command of language lasts just long enough to take a brief look at said project, the latest EP release from Sara Lugo and Take It Easy, "Elevate".

{Note: I can virtually guarantee that the writing in this post is and will continue to be truly horrible so, for your benefit, I will be brief}
{Note 3: I may pop up ocassionally again, but if you hold your breath waiting on another post you will... well.... well you'll just stop holding your breath}
{Note 4: Where's note 2????}

'Elevate'

Fittingly, setting the tone for the project named after it is the eponymous selection for Sara Lugo's new EP, "Elevate". The first thing that really struck me on this tune is just its sound. I don't know what, exactly, I would call this. It's has this kind of equally bright and brooding sound to it and I never REALLY got a hold of it. Call what it you like, however, when you add Lugo's vocals to it (which are almost entirely what you would call bright on this song) and what you have is a winner. The theme of the track, at least in the micro sense, is progression and being at least open to new ideas and designs. She ultimately goes on to use that notion to involve other sentiments such as overall personal development and even things like sadness and going through tough times, in general ["so just be, be, be the change you want to see"]. In the macro - you can really take a song like this in so many different directions, which you know I REALLY want to do.

'Flowaz'

Next in is 'Flowaz' which I immediately heard and it took me in one direction. At her absolute core, in my opinion (and I've certainly said somewhere in these pages many times), Sara Lugo is someone who very organically is capable of doing something which..... just doesn't really happen very much and, unless she makes some type of concerted effort NOT to do it, I don't know if she could change it even if she wanted to. What she can do, because of her style and her voice is to sing a straight up Jazz song and that isn't rare at all. HOWEVER, when you have someone who does that whose heart and whose passion, whose heart and whose (again) style and voice so often leads them in the direction of making Reggae music - what you have is a unicorn of an artist. They just don't exist. Right???

'Flowaz', at least to my ears, is a beautiful Jazz song, she pushes it through a few courses with the possible highlight being spells during which Lugo full on raps at times. The general aesthetics on this song are spectacular with my personal favourite section being a stretch of half a minute or so at the end where Lugo's vocals spark a lovely instrumental. 'Flowaz' also isn't without a lyrical offering and what I took it from it was the simple notion of attempting to find and highlight BEAUTY wherever you can and in whichever form you might, regardless of what that means to you. Surely, if you listen to this tune, you can add it to your list.

'Energy Of God'

Where 'Elevate' had an unusual vibe to it and 'Flowaz' was more in a Jazz direction to my ears, the EP's third selection, 'Energy Of God' almost comes through (at least at times) in an R&B or lightly Hip/Hoppish type of vibes. Unsurprisingly, that isn't a problem at all for Lugo. There is a certain grumble (I don't know what to call it) on this track which is a golden touch to listen to and the song, about halfway through, takes a twist and kind of opens up and blossoms into something else. For her part, Lugo uses it to make an inspirational contribution - essentially saying that EVERYONE has something to offer to the world and what we are to do is to find what that is and do our best to release it. I also took from this one that Lugo was also kind of aggressively sharing the title of motivator.... because maybe what it is that you do well is to MOTIVATE. So maybe you can do that and someday some loon somewhere will be writing about you! Get to work! 

"YOU'RE THE BEST THERE IS OF YOU SO WHY YOU HOLD BACK? [BOOM!]
Please join in, we need your love, you brighten up the dark"

'Time'

From a lyrical point of view, 'Time' is a song about simply making the 'best' of one's time It's about doing what you want to do as soon as you possibly can and attempting to stop procrastinating and finding reasons to not reach one's potential, in full and in spots. Be it finding time to love (like having someone catch your eye and sitting around too damn nervous to say something to them) (STOP BEING A COWARD AND SAY HELLO!) or finding time to pursue some type of other interest - do what you want to do and stop creating reasons not to. The sound here is another very interesting one and it loosely reminded me of an old Sara Lugo song (more on that in conclusion) with this kind of 'chime' type of vibe to it. Clearly someone far more intelligent than me should probably be explaining the music to you on this song but what I will say simply is that - your ears will not be upset at you for listening to 'Time' several times. Trust me.

'Free Flow'

They'll also not be upset if you continue to 'Elevate' with Sara Lugo and arrive at its next track, 'Free Flow'. This is the most VIVID tune that you will find here. It is super bright and there're times here when Lugo sounds like she's smiling while she's singing it. You'll also be smiling while she's singing it.

'Elevate [RVDS Remix]'

Finally is the RVDS Remixed version of the title track. What I will say about this one (resisting the urge to dive right in again) is that I actually enjoy it more than the original version. It's an excellent remix and this is coming from someone who generally isn't very interested in remixes at all, with very few exceptions.

Overall, as I alluded to while talking about 'Time'. There is an old song Sara Lugo did almost a decade ago now maybe (we are all so, soooooo old) by the name of 'Night Race' with an artist named Toussaint (biggup Toussaint) which so much sounds like something that would have been on a project like this one, musically speaking. It had this kind of subtly GRAND vibe to it which (if you can have such a thing) (and apparently you can) and was just a gorgeous song. I bring up 'Night Race' because..... well because I said I would and I really like that song, so I'll just start this again -

Overall, "Elevate" is a project from Sara Lugo (DUH!) which highlights so much of her diversity. While you will not find it saturated in Reggae, what you do find here will definitely keep even the most singular-minded of her fans happy throughout. Anddddddd! I mean it's new Sara Lugo and you really want to hear it! But you didn't need me to tell you all of that. I'll see you later.