Holler Live Sessions: Alana Springsteen

If you listen through Alana Springsteen's discography so far, you'll find some subtle - and some not so - themes running through its foundations. One that's not so hidden, parked up with the engine running in the centre of Springsteen's narratives, is the car.

"One thing you should know about me is that I really don't like people seeing me cry" Springsteen reveals to us from inside the cosy, welcoming confines of the Betsey Trotwood pub in London. "So I wrote 'Shoulder To Cry On' about one of my safe places, which is the car. I've found a lot of my emotional breakdowns or break-ups with guys have happened there, because no one's around to see".

'Shoulder To Cry On' perfectly exhibits Springsteen's ability to craft artful twists into her vulnerable songwriting - what at first may seem to be an emotional dependency on someone close reveals itself to be an empowering desire to find one's own nest to heal.

Settling into the session, Springsteen gifts us with three performances that balance the fond memories of past love with the need to repair and recuperate after something sorrowful. It's purposeful yet not without hope, the breadth of emotion in her songwriting making her not only the artist, but the person, she is today.

"'While You're At It' is the only love song on my project, History of Breaking Up (Part Two)'" Springsteen explains. "I honestly wanted to start it out that way as it's my reminder that you can't have the good without the bad; it all comes together".

Performing 'While You're At It', 'Shoulder To Cry On' and 'For What It's Worth' with Breland, this is Alana Springsteen for the Holler Live Sessions.