Liv Austen
Workin’ Man’s Dream EP
(Independent – crowd funded through PledgeMusic)
I first discovered London singer-songwriter Liv Austen when she was performing at The Bedford in Balham, London as part of London Folkfest 2015 (read the review of Folkfest London 2015 here). I enjoyed her set and purchased her four track ‘Workin’ Man’s Dream’ EP. The EP was crowdfunded by PledgeMusic which is a popular way of funding in the digital age and quite a few artists featured on our website including Ben Montague and Hollie Stephenson.
Opening track ‘Rain on My Side’ is a clever song because I think it is in a minority; a happy song with the word rain in the title. The electric guitar by Mike Gibbons has that country twang and is definitely something I can see radio broadcaster Bob Harris playing on his country radio show.
‘Breathe Out’ is a brutally honest song about Liv being happy and content with being single and her vocals are really strong. What I really like about Liv Austen is that she takes country music and puts her own twist on it as a lot of people would have a glass half empty attitude when it comes to the subject of being unattached.
‘The Guts You Always Had’ has some beautiful keys from Josh Roots but the song isn’t as strong as its predecessors. The closing title track is an upbeat country song about country music and how Liv would like the fame and status that males such as Tim McGraw have. It is a lively song and a pleasant song for the EP to finish on. I preferred seeing Liv Austen live because she connected really well with a live audience but the songs on this EP are quite strong. If she can keep writing material of this quality than I think an album is definitely not that far away.
Glenn Sargeant
Liv Austen’s EP ‘Workin’ Man’s Dream’ is out now. In addition, Liv Austen will be one of the special guests alongside The Rising for Jess and The Bandits headline show at The Borderline in London on Wednesday 28th October 2015. For more information visit: www.livausten.com
