Single Review: The Right Way

The Right Way is an absolute delicacy. Introducing her new EP due out later this year, Lisa Crawley’s latest single explores the feeling of frustration and awkwardness in the struggle to impress others. Somehow equally hopeful as it is resigned, The Right Way conveys that exact emotion to a tee.

The track is mellow and relaxed, yet never loses momentum. Crawley reminisces in the sounds of mid-2010s soulful pop, but adds creative flair with detailed percussion and gentle guitar riffs, which centre it firmly back in today’s pop landscape. Much of this modernity is owed to Crawley’s vocals. She sings simple melodic choices with a crisp, clear tone, but inflects each line with just enough emotion to perfectly encapsulate her lyrical content. It’s evident Crawley is particularly proud of the chorus’s witty line, “I put the miss in mistake”, and rightfully so — it’s a moment which injects the song with just the right amount of both humour and sincerity, invoking the embarrassed backtracking of a conversation which isn’t working out as planned.

The single artwork deserves mention for its unique colour story and 70’s aesthetic, well-matched to the song’s easy vibe and stylistic hints of jazz and folk. Crawley clearly understands how to conceptually define herself by establishing a visual narrative alongside the literal music.

Although the song may be about getting things wrong, Lisa Crawley has gotten everything right with The Right Way. It’s an easy listen which rewards the audience with surprising depth the more they pay attention. If The Right Way is anything to go by, Crawley’s upcoming EP will be an exciting and evocative listen.