Hometown: Byers, Colo.
Pairs well with: Deciding to reinvent yourself at 4:00 a.m.
For this to be Lauren Frihauf's first year old enough to enter the Tiny Desk contest, the maturity in her voice, lyrics and performance is really impressive. As she accompanies herself on a Gretsch guitar, it's easy to get lost in her voice, taking in her mellow tone. Frihauf starts "Fragments of a Stranger'' off simple and gracefully ascends up to a shimmery falsetto that she controls tenderly throughout the performance. The song is an honest confrontation about being lost and not knowing who you are – "I don't know who / I'm looking at / Or what I see / A fragment of a stranger with no self-esteem" – and toward the end, Frihauf finds herself looking for clarity within. "Restore me" she sings, over a vamp that harmonically rises and leaves us floating in a peaceful state of meditation.
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