US singer / songwriter Lauren Sanderson is ready to make her own luck. In her introspective yet dynamic second LP, ‘Death of a Fantasy’, out this week, she grapples with what it means to take responsibility herself and her own happiness— even if it means cutting out the things that make her most ‘comfortable’.

It’s been a seemingly short two years since her 2020 debut album ‘Midwest Kids Can Make It Big’ — a nod to her Indiana roots — but Sanderson hasn’t broken her stride. With a string of single releases and collaborations, Sanderson won many new Australian fans thanks to her single ‘Gay 4 Me’ with singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer G Flip, released in February this year.

‘Death of a Fantasy’ takes the listener through a journey of self-discovery, certainly, but it’s also a meditation on love, loss and loneliness, with a backdrop of any number of genres. Listeners will be familiar with some of the songs, such as the 2022 singles “Tongue Tied” and “THERAPY!” as well as 2021’s “Girl from the Internet,” “QUEEN BEE” and “Hi.” But the unreleased portions show off some of her boldest choices yet. The ballad “nothing lasts forever” has an anthemic chorus with a slight acoustic country twang. “Is It Normal?” has the edgy floor-stomp beat of a classic Sanderson track coupled with ethereal guitars and synths.

“A thousand times, I’ve said to me / You choose your reality,” she sings on the biting leading track ‘SENSORYOVERLOAD’ which she describes as both a panic attack and a hug, all in one song. Sanderson explains further: “I haven’t been able to truly express the overwhelming anxieties I’ve felt for the past couple years until I made this song. When it’s felt like everything, everywhere, all at once and you get so trapped in your own mind that you even convince yourself there’s no way out. I wanted this song to recreate that feeling but in a way thats comforting – So whoever’s struggling and hears this knows they’re not the only one feeling that way.” Check out the video for ‘SENSORYOVERLOAD’ below.