Lauren Hulbert Releases “Gone In One”

“What’s going on inside this pretty head of mine? / Don’t go asking me / I’ll never tell” Lauren Hulbert melodically states in her new single “Gone In One,” the emphatic urgency of her words only rivaled by the searing tonality of her guitar. Lyrics can be a catalyst for a lot of different emotional communications in pop songwriting, but in this instance, it’s one of the most important avenues we’ll find in “Gone In One.” Whether listening to the track by itself or watching the music video made in support of its release, this is a fantastic way of getting to know a singer/songwriter in Lauren Hulbert on a deeper level than we could before. 

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The strings are even more fragile than the premise of the lyrical narrative is in this song, but I wouldn’t say that they’re lacking in color at all – on the contrary, they contribute a lot of depth to the words that wouldn’t have been as clear and precise in the big picture here in a different set of circumstances. By creating an instrumental equilibrium that echoes the tone of the poetry in “Gone In One,” Hulbert is making it pretty difficult for us to listen to her latest release and walk away unaffected. 

There’s a really exposed feel to every harmony in this release, and I don’t know that you need to be a professional critic of any sort to tell just how little filler there is in the mix. We’re getting all brawn and as limited a cosmetic varnish as possible, and though the music video is a bit more conceptual than the song is as a standalone, they both convey the same sense of authenticity that I would just as soon never expect to hear out of the contemporary mainstream beat. 

This music video takes the idea behind the composition and gives it an added edge through both simplicity and a string of shots that allude to more than words could ever get across to us on their own, and in my book, that makes it an interesting watch for sure. There was no need to get crazy with the props in this piece, and I like that while Hulbert is playing a starring role, she isn’t overstating her presence as a means of forcing emotions that aren’t really her own. She’s being true to her artistry and personality in “Gone In One,” and that alone is a step above what the status quo is calling for nowadays. 

Lauren Hulbert still has a lot of work to do if she’s going to breakthrough to a mainstream that has never felt quite as dependent on its commercialized identity as it does in 2020, but right now, I think she’s one of the hottest indie singer/songwriters out of her scene worth keeping tabs on this fall. “Gone In One” feels like a cornerstone composition, and in time, I think it could prove to be a significant turning point in her overall development as a player. 

Mindy McCall