Soulful songstress Shannon LaBrie is set to release a new LP, titled Building, on September 25. Listeners got a first taste of the album with her current single “Firewalker,” a heroic anthem that continues to gain traction. NPR described the anthem as “a spirited statement to keep soldiering on” while American Songwriter calls it “a ray of light that can guide you through each day.” Produced by multi-Grammy Award-winners, Brent Maher and Charles Yingling, Building will be available on all digital retailers. The forthcoming LP is now available for digital pre-save HERE and physical pre-order HERE.
Written in 2019, each song holds significant importance and relevance now more than ever. Building offers listeners a journey to self-discovery and reflection with songs about finding strength in pain, spiritual guidance, and words that turn to bullets as in the song “The Things We Say” as she sings, “The things we say, it’s the weapon of the age.” LaBrie’s voice delicately floats over the solo piano that accompanies her, leaving no room for distraction and making her message perfectly clear. The talented wordsmith wrote or co-wrote on every track, bringing words of willful hope in songs like “Raining Hallelujah” while she creates a sense of calm in “Angels Fall” through the use of the main guitar riff fluttering throughout as the song continues to build on top: “Angels fall from the sky, every so often I feel the wind from a pair of wings, pushing me to better things.”
As the world continues to navigate through the ever-changing tide of 2020, LaBrie’s title track “Building” reminds listeners that life is exactly that, an ever-changing tide that continues to build with each experience acting as a building block to the next, “I can’t think of a better word to describe this thing we call ‘life’ than the word ‘building’,” she says of the title track. LaBrie recounts a heart-wrenching moment the morning after a disastrous Tornado ripped through her Nashville neighborhood in March of 2020, “I’ll never forget the morning after the tornado. A friend and I were helping clear out debris; I looked over to see a couple embracing in the street in front of their house. Their house that no longer had doors, walls, or a roof. It was completely destroyed. They were holding each other so tight and that image has been imprinted in my mind as a reminder that our lives are built and held together by much more than nails, hammers, and wood but with love and compassion. I will always think of that couple when I sing this song.
LaBrie leaves listeners with a rendition of Tom Petty’s “It’s Good to Be King,” using her smooth and sultry voice to bring new light and female perspective to a song based off of the male ego.
