(March 14, 2017) Big stage presence, bigger hair and a voice that thunders from within to shatter our souls; whenever we think of Leela James that’s what comes to mind, so it’s a striking change of pace to hear the roar become a croon and for her brassiness to melt into vulnerability in her latest single, “Hard For Me.”
Any listener with a can’t-do-right significant other can relate: yes, the love is there and you want to be together forever, but if they keep trampling on your heart and taking more than they give, you’re looking at the front door: “Why you make it so hard for me baby/ why you push me so far away?” She implores with her familiar rasp.”Can’t you see that I’m always down for you/I ride and die for you, give my life for you, you should treat me the same way too.”
A lull in the tempest, quiet before the storm: Leela James’ latest could be put to use as a soothing time-out as lovers retreat to neutral corners, or to pull the oblivious from ‘the friend zone’ as a case for taking the relationship to the next level. No matter how fans receive it, Ms. James makes her case and it’s ‘hard’ not to feel her struggle.
By Melody Charles
Leela James – “Hard For Me”