Written by Pat Moran
L.A. based British singer-songwriter Laurel Arnell-Cullen, who performs and records as Laurel, staked out her soulful spin on indie pop bangers like the swaggering “Maybe Baby” in the 2010s. For her latest single, “45 Degrees,” she dials down the loud guitars and take no shit swagger for a more subdued futurist beach party manifesto.
With the track’s luxurious hazy opening, where synth tones pulsate and ping pong like the summer sun pulsing on your temples, it’s clear that the titular temperature is in Celsius, not Fahrenheit. In other words, it’s hot, but not “Disco Inferno” hot.
Rather, Arnell-Cullen’s throaty sensuous croon coveys a mesmerizing sun dappled languor, where the radiant light and sighing beach breezes beckon like Odysseus’s sirens, not to lure you to your doom, but to tempt you to fall into a summer fling
“Fast food for breakfast/Kissing in cars on the coast and/Goddamn, it's heaven/
I'll do whatever you want”
Even as the tune soars to multi-tracked vocals entwining in a soaring, catchy chorus, the song’s oneric aura intensifies.
“Lovesick, hey, I'm hypnotized/I got it bad, babe, I'm on the borderline/Of crazy, got me hot like it's forty-five degrees/Now, I chase you like a summer breeze”
A paean to escapism and freedom, “45 Degrees” celebrates summer’s mesmerizing (and sometimes risky) promise.
Take a Listen
Leave a comment