On her new LP ‘For Now, Forever’, Oakland-based singer-songwriter Liana Warren delivers an arresting debut; ten songs that are as incredibly thoughtful as they are transportive, marrying intricate acoustic arrangements with deeply human reflections. Her writing is rooted in specificity and sensitivity, often drawing emotion from the quiet corners of daily life.
The record begins unassumingly with ‘Tiny Sprout (It Begins)’ and from there, Warren’s delicate and fluid guitar work threads each track with a sense of purpose. ‘Twin Peaks’ shimmers with warmth and gratitude, a glowing tribute to place and chosen family. While ‘Atoms Colliding’, on the other hand, stretches into existential territory, exquisitely confronting uncertainty and awe in equal measure.
What’s most striking about Warren’s songwriting is her ability to hold both joy and sorrow in the same breath. Tracks like ‘Cleo’s Bath’ and ‘The Apple Tree’ explore loss with a quiet grace. Even as she processes personal grief, Warren maintains a deep sense of generosity toward her listeners, never pushing them, only guiding.
‘Paulina’, perhaps the album’s emotional apex, wrestles with the fleeting nature of love and its enduring imprint. While the penultimate offering ‘Hearts & Minds’ swells with cinematic scope before yielding to the beautiful closing track, ‘Adaline’.
Liana Warren has crafted an album that embraces the temporality of everything: love, places, even identity. ‘For Now, Forever’ looks to find meaning in what passes through our everyday lives. It’s a remarkably assured debut and a quiet triumph. For fans of Joni Mitchell and Laura Marling, this one is for you.
