How Can I Ease The Pain

“How Can I Ease The Pain” is Lisa Fischer stepping out from decades of background work into a career-defining lead: she co-wrote the song herself with producer Narada Michael Walden, who also arranged the track and played drums, while Louis Biancaniello handled keyboards and programming as associate producer. It’s the same production engine already featured in the archive on Shanice’s “I Hate To Be Lonely” and Cherrelle’s “Nothing’s Ever Gonna Stop (The Way I Feel)” - engineer David Frazer mixed all three.

Released as the lead single from So Intense, the song earned Fischer the 1992 Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, a historic tie with Patti LaBelle - vindication for a voice the world already knew from Luther Vandross and Rolling Stones records but had rarely heard carry a song of its own. Mastered by Steve Hall, it stands as the vocal high point of the Walden/Biancaniello/Frazer partnership as heard across the archive.