There are some songs that feel honest from their first note, and Lucas Pasley’s new single, “Laissez-Faire Love” is one of them. It is a song firmly rooted in the Appalachian tradition that feels just as timely as it is timeless. In warm fiddle strings, gentle guitar, and weathered, clear vocals, Pasley muses on the idea of giving the people we love the room they need to grow and thrive. It is a quiet truth that we are often too intent on trying to mold love into something it wasn’t made for. What if, instead, we asked the people we love to stay with us, even when they wander? What if we loved with freedom?
The entire song feels unhurried, the way a good conversation should. You have all the time in the world for this. The instrumentation is as carefully considered as it is not flashy. Fiddle lines bend with a hint of longing and the driving rhythm is a refuge. Vocally, Pasley is soft and worn but not phony in any way. There is a lived-in truth to his voice and delivery that you could probably hear over the microphone. The way he sings the line “love with freedom” isn’t a clever punchline, it’s the entire point of the song. This is a song that is sometimes mistaken for a heartbreak song but it is really a song about understanding. It is not about letting someone go, but rather about letting someone be beside you.
What works for this song is its simplicity. It you’t meant to be showy or dramatic. Instead, it offers a truth that we could all hear more often: love does not try to control. It offers support and stability without demand for return. Pasley’s melding of country and bluegrass with an Appalachian backbone is graceful and stunning. This is music that would make John Prine and Tyler Childers proud, but in this song and the like, Pasley’s artistry is uniquely his own. This is a quiet, beautiful reminder of what love can look like when we let it. You will want to sit with this one.
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