Review: "Open for Business" - LACES

Kick off the ushering in of warm, electric late nights with the retro-like, dreamy pop single ‘Open for Business’ from artist LACES. Centered around the beauty in vulnerability, ‘Open for Business’ serves as a love letter to being your authentic self. Despite the aspect of being previously hurt, LACES focuses the song’s attention on looking ahead. While this could be seen as taking an avenue to route around healing, ‘Open for Business’ instead channels both pain and joy. This pain and joy can be heard in the very essence of the song, but the true blend of these emotions can be heard in LACES’ voice. Her voice, in addition to ‘Open for Business’ as a whole, rides a beautiful line between mystery & force. To be precise, the experience reminds me of taking the haunting, mystifying quality of the voice of Amy Lee - lead singer of the band Evanescence – and combining it with a unique, dark blend of pop with personality.

‘Open for Business’ is a song that takes listeners on a fulfilling, emotionally uplifting journey. LACES lays it all out on the table through her lyrics, including descriptive words that show you that this is an honest, personal story. Through connecting phrases such as, “make peace with the night,” and “hoping the anger fades into the light,” listeners are given a clear image of her mindset and her hopeful spirit – in spite of her pain. Above all else, what I noticed about ‘Open for Business’ is LACES’ strong ability to be completely vulnerable. She admits when she is hurting, discusses her openness to try anything that will help her, and overall shows that it’s perfectly okay to not have everything figured out. While that lack of concreteness can be nerve wracking, LACES found a way to harness those feelings into creating something positive – the sound of ‘Open for Business’. The song builds on itself as time passes, applying building blocks of 80’s-like synth and a velvet-smooth, leading voice until you’re left with a treasured, important reminder to be kind to yourself.

LACES is a singer-songwriter and producer from New Jersey, U.S. Additionally known professionally under the name Charlotte Sometimes, the visionary behind it all – Jessica Vaughn – writes and performs music as well as pens and produces music under her legal name. Early in her career, she was featured on The Voice and collaborated with Geffen Records, yet her future is allowing for more diversity and exploration through her music. Now known as LACES, her music leans more into a dark & compelling sound while still spearheading with her soft, velvety voice that was distinct in her work as Charlotte Sometimes. As Jessica Vaughn, her work has supported platforms such as Hasbro cartoons, programs on the CW, Netflix, etc. In addition to writing and producing for outside platforms, she also writes music for other recording artists. With a darker edge to her music in sight, Vaughn continues to explore new heights and once again successfully make a name for herself as LACES.

Written By Madison Spies

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