Lanie Lane: To The Horses

11 October 2011

by Poppy Reid

Sydney songbird, Lanie Lanie has flown far from home to make her U.S. debut this month, and as she speaks softly over the phone from Los Angeles you can hear the cringe in her voice as she’s asked for the umpteenth time that day about the man who pushed her into public consciousness, Jack White. “I don’t know the guy really, I only spent seven hours with him,” quips the 24-year-old.

Lane says it was more of a “right place at the right time” situation when her management had a connection with the General Manager of the White Stripes’ Third Man Records studio. “My management knew that he would like my music so he passed it on to Jack White who emailed me and asked me to go and record with him.”

It may sound as though she’s attempting to play down the two tracks she recorded in the Nashville studio, but Lane is well aware of the weight a White endorsed product holds, even if their only connection was through the music.

“We really didn’t talk about personal stuff or anything like that,” she says sternly. “It was all about making music and recording together, and having this bond through the song. If Jack White likes it you know the song’s gonna be good.” And just like that Lane joined the eclectic list of luminaries like Laura Marling, Cold War Kids and Insane Clown Posse who have all recorded at Third Man with White.

While plainly conscious of the positive consequence that came with White’s stamp of approval, the biggest and most surprising victory for Lane was the fact they shared common ground. “For me it was interesting just being able to work with someone who had a similar approach to life and music that I did,” she recalls. “He created a world of his own and I really want to bring people into my world the way he has.”

It’s this dichotomous world of Lane’s that will prove an easy fit for most; her debut album To The Horses touches on the heartache that comes akin with empathy in Heartbeat, living on your own terms in the record’s title track, and the drudgery of working a job you hate in first single What Do I Do. After four years working a “really gritty job” as a florist to support her dream of pursuing music full-time, Lane is thankfully too busy singing in all four corners of the globe to be messing about with florets.

“People romanticise floristry and I can only say that my sympathies are with the florists...I had to remain open because it’s not a strategic move having a career in music, it’s more like a long life decision of ‘this is what I want to do.’”

Encouraging her from an early age are her parents who played a sizeable hand in the country/rockabilly/pop and roots hybrid she is today. Her father taught her the basics of guitar and is said to be the most prominent influence on her taste in music; but as Lane remembers through stifled laughter, her mother’s Irish heritage also helped form her style.
“She said the other day ‘you know, people always go on about how it was your dad and his record collection, but you know actually I played a lot of those records!’ She loves having a bit of ownership of that, so good on her.”

Lane may possess a different sound than the aural-rape that has been clogging radio airwaves of late, but she’s not alone; with artists like Imelda May, Kitty, Daisy & Lewis and Mylee Grace among those spearheading a resurgence in rockabilly blues, Lane joins the ranks of those allowing their genetics define their creations.

“I feel like I must have something like that in my blood that makes me love the old time music,” she says.

Her debut may be the product of years of material, but Lane would prefer you see it from a distance. “To The Horses is about me living my life in terms of seeing the big picture and doing what I want the way I want to do it with the right people,” she explains. “I think having a collection of morals that are grounding of that sentiment is important.”

Lanie Lane’s unapologetic sensitivity is comparable only to her determination and musical genius. As an enigmatic female in a self-moulded genre, Lane speaks from the mind of a woman closer to 35 than 25. Just like a mature-aged maven, she is more than aware of what she has to offer.

“I’ve been through a lot and I’ve been able to write about it, and I’ll continue to do all of that.”

To The Horses is out through Ivy League Records on October 14