“I write at my best when I’m either really fired up about something or—on the flip-side—really relaxed and content,” Lisa Crawley tells American Songwriter. “But it’s usually the former.”
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Born and raised in New Zealand, performing is like second-nature to Crawley. As a vocalist, she’s landed all sorts of gigs, including a lead role in the Auckland production of Once. As a songwriter, the impassioned tunes she’s been recording and releasing since the mid-2000s have made their ways all over the globe… which ultimately led to Crawley relocating to Los Angeles right before the pandemic hit.
Settling into her new home and the new way of quarantine living at the same time, it didn’t take long for her to start chugging out songs in one of her two aforementioned writing modes. Linking up with a frequent collaborator of hers, she used the fiery passion in her heart to pen her new single, “The Right Way,” out June 25.
“I was writing with my friend, Rob Kleiner,” Crawley said. “I was on the keyboard and started playing the chorus chord progression. We both admit to being overthinkers and decided to write a song about remorse and regret—wishing you could have another go at saying something ‘the right way.’ We wrote and recorded the majority of it on the same day, and shortly afterwards, my friend Alistair Deverick in New Zealand recorded some drums and Los Angeles-based horn player Jon Maness recorded the trumpet.”
Coming ahead of her new EP—Looking For Love (In A Major), due July 23—“The Right Way” is an impressive peek into Crawley’s style. With a free-flowing melody dancing above a laid-back, soulful groove, the single hits a sweet spot, production-wise. And between the sheer vibes of the tune and Crawley’s transportive lyricism, the finished product is a truly communicative expression, employing rhythm, harmony and verse to depict a complex feeling.
“Musically, we combined a mix of old school and modern sounds, melodies and chord progressions,” she explained. “Lyrically, my main inspiration was understanding and loving yourself despite natural tendencies to self-deprecate. Love yourself despite your neuroscies and try not to get anxious about being anxious! Most people are too consumed with themselves to notice things that—if you’re like me—you’ll spend days, months or years dwelling on.”
Lisa Crawley’s new single, “The Right Way,” is out on June 25—watch the music video for it below:
