VIDEO PREMIERE: Lauren Monroe Finds Healing Power in Love with Soulful Americana Sounds on “If You Want”

Messages From Aphrodite, Lauren Monroe’s third album—and her second in collaboration with acclaimed producer Jim Scott—widens the aperture opened by its predecessor, 2021’s Under the Wolf Moon, bringing her musical and spiritual vision into even sharper focus. The title, which references the ancient Greek goddess of love in its myriad aspects, signifies the emotional expanse of Monroe’s songs, to which she brings a rarefied degree of insight and compassion, enabling her to nimbly plumb the depths and scale the heights of the human condition in her songwriting. 

That may sound like a tall order, but Monroe is singularly well-equipped to handle it. The New York-born, California-based polymath conducts parallel careers as a gifted singer-songwriter and a renowned mental-health advocate. She approaches these intertwined roles with equal passion, her nuanced understanding of human behavior informing her music, which she sees as “a heart-based experience” that is “not just about listening—it’s about feeling and connecting.” 

Monroe draws on her deep well of accrued knowledge in her songs, which she delivers in a luminous alto that resonates with empathy. Her experiential lyrics, emotionally authentic and free of pretense, are embedded in vibrant folk-rock settings, immediate in their impact and timeless in their sound. 

The unmistakable parallels between rock’s halcyon days and Monroe’s music are rooted in her neoclassic songcraft, replete with ecstatic, harmony-laden chorus hooks and imbued with the unfettered joy of being alive and in the moment. 

Today Glide is excited to premiere the video for “If You Want,” one of the standout tracks on the new album. With a warming accordion to kick things off, the carries an old-school Americana groove and a splash of Southern soul that feels straight out of a 1970s playlist in the way it brings to mind Fleetwood Mac, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, and Bonnie Raitt alongside artists like Melissa Etheridge and Sheryl Crow. Monroe’s vocals carry a sense of easygoing soul that is amplified by the top notch talent backing her, including her husband, Def Leppard’s Rick Allen. The visuals of Monroe driving a vintage Mustang across the sunny California landscape add to the emotional weight of the lyrics.

Monroe describes the inspiration behind the song:

In every moment we have a choice to live in love or in fear. To live in love or anger, in love or worry. In every moment we have the opportunity to choose love over and over again. So many of us automatically hide in our pain instead of standing in the center of what heals us… Love. This song is a message, a reminder that in every moment we have the opportunity to choose love. It isn’t always the easiest choice but is the most empowering and the most powerful choice. When we are hurt it is the most difficult to choose and most difficult to believe. I believe that Love is not just a feeling, it is a place, a home, a sanctuary of hope and meaning, but only if you choose it. In this song, the voice of love speaks… She says, “I am here for you, I am waiting in the dream. Open the gate and hide here with me. Listen to the moon, I am here, let your mind go, I am here… Believe this now.”

WATCH: