Lethia's Natorium “That's the Way I Am”
Pena Hughes-John doesn’t live up to anyone else’s expectations. Creatively, she has set herself free, embracing the diverse and unique palette she naturally has. As a musician, Hughes-John has a broad song catalogue and has been involved in many musical collectives. She has a mellower side, a pop side, but Lethia’s Notorium, the unique music project is created to celebrate her “inner rock chic” — by all means, there are walls to be torn down and rules to be broken.
“That’s the Way I Am” tackles a serious topic with its own darkly inspired rock fun. The track features a punchy, sassy storytelling, in which it reveals the true nature of a perpetrator of heartbreaks: cold-hearted, narcissistic, using past pain as an excuse but in truth will never change. Every line she wrote makes you want to snap your fingers and say “hell yeah” because they are so spot on! The track hits home.
Quirky and theatrical, Hughes-John steps into the role of “the devil,” painting a person we all know too well. Her brilliant and fully-immersive performance is quite unexpected and certainly breaks all the expectations others set for her. “That’s the Way I Am” is charged with that rocker’s spirit we all love and hate. It’s not about breaking rules or being bad, but freedom and independence. Letting her creativity shine and letting her heart sing has gifted this track a nuanced contrast that can’t be duplicated.
Being two sides of the same coin, the A-side of “That’s the Way I Am” is a previous release called “Sorry No Longer Cuts It,” in which Hughes-John tells the same story from the perspective of someone who has been wronged. From two different perspectives, she dives deep into the experience of dating an emotional unavailable person. She details all the red flags and signs for those who’s still deep in the mud while shedding light on this topic.
Humorous yet sensitive, edgy yet deeply compassionate, that’s the kind of artist “That’s the Way I Am” tells you. If her previous release doesn’t set her apart from other artists, this track certainly does.
