Because you took something away from yourself
Come back to this world and take your heart to higher shelf
Is there such a thing as falling in love with a voice? Can you have a relationship with a person who you have never spoken to or seen in real life? I mean, can something like this really work? If it would, I’d totally fall for Holly Fletcher! The voice and brains behind Låpsley! Today she released her 4 track ‚Understudy EP‘ and heck, it is one brilliant piece of music.
Lead track ‚Falling Short‘ has been causing waves in the blogosphere for a couple of months now, and it was inevitable that some hot label would pick her up. It’s a tasteful recap of a breaking heart, completed by subtle piano chords, finger snapping and electronic beat fragments. Above all sits Fletcher’s voice. It’s so intimate that it could break the iceberg that sunk the Titanic. Second song ‚Brownlow‘ picks up the same ingredients but adds haunting sounds and a life embracing organ sitting very low in the mix. Then there are added synth horns – if you ask yourself, if they can ever sound not cheesy, then listen to this track! – and swelling bassdrops that remind one of Jamie XX’s post-dubstep. 8896 turns to the darker side again without repeating the recipe of the opener. Dancing is a sad closer about a difficult relationship that slowly ascends into a brooding, almost noisy finale to the best four songs I have heard in the last couple of months.
The recent scouse exports seem to up the notch. I love that about my former home and the city’s music scene deserves a lot more credit and attention. It’s not all about London. What was true for guitar music is now definitely also true for the hip and cool electronic singer-songwriter stuff that keeps bubbling strong in the UK music scene.
I’ve always been an understudy
I know you would never love me
There’s something romantically looming and haunting in Låpsley’s sound that manages to set her apart well enough from other peers like Kwabs or her labelmate FKA Twigs to make her unique. It’s the perfect soundtrack for those dark winter days where sunlight seems to be a memory of the distant past and candles, wine and cigarettes are all that can comfort you to sleep.
If this is any indication of what there is still to come, her album should be hotly tipped for this years Mercury Prize. If it doesn’t arrive this year, then I will be heartbroken but I’ll already know what I’ll be looking out for in the year ahead!
Låpsley – Understudy EP is out now via XL/Beggars.
Pick up a copy here (physical) or here (digital)!
