The Album

There is so much excellent wizard rock out there in the world, but if you asked me to pick my absolute favorite artist, it would have to be Lauren Fairweather. Their music has influenced so much of my own wizard rock, and her voice has kept me company on many long road trips. Today we’re going to listen to With You, Whatever Happens. This eleven track album was released on October 23, 2018 and features female characters in the Harry Potter series. It also includes a Moaning Myrtles song as well as a song inspired by The Fault in Our Stars. I supported the original Indiegogo campaign to make this album a reality, and I remember that it came out the day before I was scheduled to have a long airplane ride. It was the first (and only) thing I listened to on my journey, and I can still recall how my face lit up while listening to it.

The Tracks

The first song is about Ginny, and is called Nerve. The melody and lyrics are absolutely incredible. I love the piano as the background, and the quick chorus is my favorite part. One of the best things about Lauren’s music is that it makes you want to join in. I can’t help but sing along with my own harmonies whenever I listen to their music. I also love how you can hear the smile in Lauren’s voice. Her performance is incredibly strong and provides us with a deep sense of honest passion.

Lost and Found is my favorite wrock song of all time. I was used to the original version, which was just vocals and guitar. In this version, a full band backs up the incredible story of Luna Lovegood as she goes on a journey to find folks that will accept her at school. This song brings a smile to my face and gives me chills any time I listen to it. The message behind this song is very powerful and I will never get over how good it is. My favorite part of this song is the third time the chorus comes around. Those harmonies get me every time.

If you are looking for a House anthem for any of your Hufflepuff friends (or yourself!) you can stop looking. Hufflepuff doesn’t hold anything back as Lauren sings about how awesome this House is. Their vocal performance in this one is simply incredible, especially in the chorus. As a Ravenclaw, whenever I sing along to this song, I always feel like a proud member of the Hufflepuff House. Then the song ends and I’m jolted back to reality.

When JK Rowling announced that Moaning Myrtle’s full name was Myrtle Elizabeth Warren, the Moaning Myrtles knew they had to come out of retirement in order to create Nevertheless, I Persisted (feat. The Moaning Myrtles). This is one of my favorite songs on this album. It’s the perfect song to listen to if you need a boost of determination. The alternating vocal lines at the end are *chef’s kiss* and I love it.

We come to the title of the album, With You, Whatever Happens. It is a slow and serious song about Harry’s friends and how they will never leave his side. I would argue that this song is the most powerful on the album. You can really hear the passion in Lauren’s voice throughout the entire thing. There are a couple of amazing instrumental solos in this one as well.

Math is based off of the characters in John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars. The change to having an entire band and backup vocals, compared to Lauren’s past work which is mostly just vocals and guitar, is shown off very strongly in this song, and it works so well. I love the full sound that it has.

A personal song about where inspiration comes from, Happy Song is an upbeat and lovely song. As a musician, I can relate a lot to this song. I think that most artists would be able to relate to the message here. Sometimes we just need to find that one person, idea, or thing that gets our creative spark back.

We hear a familiar sound with a classic wizard rock song being brought back, Home. This song means a lot to many people in the Harry Potter fandom, and over the years it has become one of our anthems. The lyrics describe how we have discovered a found family together because of Harry, and no matter how much time has passed, we can always come home.

The next song is about book seven, where the Trio is on the run from the Ministry. Making History carries a powerful message about doing the right thing and getting through the hard times. Hermione gets to be in the spotlight, as Lauren sings about all of the incredible things she has done, and all of the amazing things she has yet to accomplish.

Do What You Love has a very important message to everyone who listens to it:

The things you create make the world a better place
Don’t settle for someone else’s dream
It’ll be really tough, but know that you are good enough
Do what you love and don’t look back

The final song on the album is It’s Real for Us – Live (Bonus Track) which is also a fandom anthem. Listening to the audience singing along to Lauren’s strong voice is really moving and inspiring. Through all of the things that the fandom has had to go through over the years, it’s still real for us.

In Summary

This amazing album continues to inspire and motivate me to keep creating and make the world a better place. I adore Lauren’s vocal performance, the passion that they bring to the music, and all of the other musicians (instrumentalists, vocals, mixing, etc) that put their heart into making this album. There are so many important messages in these songs, and the whole thing is sublime. I will forever be grateful that this album came into being in 2018.