Find emotional healing in “Always Love” by Lauren Jauregui

Going through the four stages of grief and finding your way out with acceptance.

Soothing sounds, methodical harmonies and passionate raspy vocals. On October 28, Lauren Jauregui released her new single,“Always Love” which is a song that’s built for healing. By reminiscing on her public breakup with singer Ty Dolla $ign, Jauregui tethers with the love that’s still lingering and the heartbreak that had come from it. 

Lauren Jauregui is a Cuban American, R&B and soul singer/songwriter. She is most known for her role in the former girl group, Fifth Harmony, but has now made a name for herself with one album and a few singles that showcase her own talents. 

She has recently finished touring on the Serpentina tour with BANKS. Her main influences in her music come from her upbringing of listening to ‘90s R&B, alternative rock, Latin music and soul. 

“Always Love” showcases the influence that soul and alternative rock has had on her music and writing. The song begins quietly with the strings of an electric guitar playing in a lullaby tempo—that is slow but calming. This is a perfect start to the journey the listener will be taken on; the vulnerable side of her longing.

“It’s kinda hard waking up in the morning without you. / When I reach over and realize it’s over, I just/ let the memories wash over me through me, and out of me but they’re still on the sheets and they stay there, so I lay there with you,” Lauren sings.

With raspy vocals, her tone is able to convey the pain she is feeling as she longs for the company of her past lover through every word. As she slowly enters the chorus, an electric guitar again introduces her soft but powerful vocals.

“Even though we didn’t work it’s always love, always love/ Even though we hurt each other more than once it was love, always love,” Lauren belts, “For all those times we locked eyes/ When I was yours and you were mine/ It’s always love, always love.”

The song’s sound has found its footing with its stripped-down focus on her vocals and two chords on an electric guitar as she jumps right into verse two.

“Nobody talks about walking away when there’s still love. / Feeling so far after being so close is a mindf**k./ You helped me grow into me so I couldn’t help but change/ But changing meant seeing some things that, I just couldn’t change,” Lauren sings.

As she ends the second verse, the listener will be able to hear the more vulnerable parts of Lauren fall out. She then repeats the chorus, but in a softer tone that’s filled with sadness; a more melodic sound, as her voice beautifully rises and falls delicately. This is as if the listener has the journey again with her.

Instead of filling in the song with words throughout the bridge, as conventional songs do, Lauren fills it with her vocals which sound like exhaling breaths with added layers of harmonies that can tickle the listener’s ears. This provides relief through the tragedy, and bittersweetness that this song has brought thus far. 

During the final chorus, the listener hears a softer vocal, almost a whisper, which allows a more accepting feeling. We get to immerse in Laurens alto range during this.

 “Even though we didn’t work it’s always love, always love. / Even though we hurt each other more than once it’s always love. / All those times we locked eyes, when I was yours and you were mine/ It’s always love, oh it’s always love,” Lauren sings.

The sound of her soft voice slowly grows into her final sense of realization as she sings for the final time, “It’s always love, always love.”

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Lauren explained “It was important for me to put this song into the world for the same reason every song is: it tells my story and it is an honest expression of a moment that allowed me to heal,” adding, “The hope is always that the song finds someone it can do the same for.”

You can listen to “Always Love” on streaming platforms such as Apple Music and Spotify. She has also put out a music video on YouTube, so you can enjoy the visualization of this story.