New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Lawrence Rothman's upcoming album Good Morning,
America (out July 16) finds the musician confronting childhood trauma head-on in a way "I have never written about in a song, poem or even diary," per Rothman, and with the release of "
Breathe" they courageously encapsulate the heart of that message. The new song opens with Rothman's innermost thoughts reflected through its lyrical content: "I try to set free from my childhood room but when I close my eyes...every dream turns panic attack." Rothman has noted the new music "details how I came to terms with the childhood trauma of sexual abuse from a teacher, and how I found an opportunity to heal after decades." In the words of their "
Breathe" collaborator Caroline Rose, the song finds Rothman immersed in "an emotional, physical and mental purge" of that darkness.
"I had already been a fan of Lawrence's work so it was a real joy being able to participate on this beautiful song. I was drawn to its rawness right away," says Rose. "The act of breathing here is an emotional, physical and mental purge. It reminds me of the way our breath and our voices move like a dancer, gliding and swooping, pushing and pulling, sometimes light, sometimes heavy. So often our breath reflects how we're feeling, and I love to imagine it in this song as an act of courage."
Musically, Rothman has described their new album as a world where "bands can sound like
Tom Petty and Anohni on the same record" and "
Breathe" is the first of the advance tracks to truly explore that "Anohni" side, a synth-driven sonic landscape that's infectious and accessible on its surface, but ultimately serves as a vehicle to tackle more difficult subject matter. The song follows the recent release of "Sunny Place For Shady People" (feat Son Little), which documents living in the heart of Trump country as a non-binary person during the 2020 election and was named a Song You Need To Know by Rolling Stone. Prior to that, Rothman released "Thrash The West" with
Amanda Shires, which led Queerty to compare Rothman to Leonard Cohen,
Johnny Cash and
Courtney Love all at once, adding "rarely does a folk ballad cut this deep, or this queer."
Pre-order Good Morning,
America here: https://orcd.co/goodmorningamerica
Good Morning,
America Tracklist
Thrash the West (feat.
Amanda Shires)
Benadryl and Cereal
Breathe (feat. Caroline Rose)
The Fix
My Body is a Perfect Storm
Decent Man (feat. Lucinda Williams)
Sunny Place For Shady People (feat. Son Little)
Dear L.A.
Glory (feat. Katie Pruitt)
Sexless in Your Bedroom
Not a Son
Homesiick.
