When I first saw Lapsley under a railway arch in Salford, less than a year ago, I felt real excitement about her potential. Now, playing to a crowd whose size she'd described as 'scary', she's at a turning point in her career, gaining attention in America and releasing her debut album. Early press reaction to Long Way Home has been favourable, and I'm sufficiently enthused to predict that it will make my end of year list. It's very much of the moment, inhabiting the same universe as the fashionable Jack Garratt: indeed the anthemic Love Is Blind has been playlisted by Radio 1. Commonly cited influences for this minimal electronica include The XX, London Grammar, and James Blake. Tracks like Falling Short also embrace R&B, and a sometimes disparate collection also draws from Motown in Operator. From the attention her early Soundcloud uploads gained, to her inclusion in BBC Sound of 2015, and an appearance on The Late Show in America in January, her ascent appears almost effortless.
The comparison most frequently made is with her 4AD label mate Adele. Musically, Lapsley is far more adventurous and approaches songwriting from quite different direction. Holly Fletcher is classically trained, gaining insight into the world of dance only later through trips to raves as a rebellious young teenager. She explained in an interview that: “I was very much a creative person, and I kind of hated playing (classical) music because it was written by somebody else.” She came to realise, like Anna Meredith who also released an electronic album on March 4th, that Beethoven would probably be composing for a Macbook, not a symphony orchestra, if he was alive today. Yet, the album isn't merely an intellectual exercise: like 21, it was inspired by a relationship, in this case with a boyfriend who had severe OCD. In another parallel, the tone is melancholic, but Lapsley's sadness is channeled inwards. Yet, I hope her early success demonstrates that public taste can be challenged, rather than simply being followed, as on 25.
As a performer, Lapsley is far more reserved than Adele, a desire to adopt a detached demeanour perhaps explaining the curious Scandinavian accent in her stage name. The performance in Manchester was note perfect, yet it took a few songs for her to relax on this first night of the tour, and I'm sure experience will allow her to take greater risks. Lapsley seemed completely unfazed by the chattering capacity audience, whose lack of consideration can't be attributed to the unfamiliarity of the songs, as they barely quietened during the two numbers from Understudy. The closest affinity to Adele is in her down to earth between song chatter: she described the lighting rig as 'wicked' and compared its shape to a vagina. I'm sure that her Wirral accent will charm and slightly bemuse her American audience. It would also be a mistake to suggest, due to her inward looking music, or gender, or age, that Lapsley's lacking in confidence: she's clearly exceptionally gifted.
Lapsley's highly independent, and despite previously explaining: “I don’t like the friction of being in a band. I’ve got my own ideas", was joined on stage by three musicians who helped to recreate the studio production. She enlisted the help of Savages' collaborator Rodaidh MacDonald for Love Is Blind, yet is training as a producer so she can be in complete control of her second album. The band accompanied sensitively, yet my highlight of the hour long set were the simple, early song Painter and Dancing, performed solo with real sensitivity from the keyboard. I suspect that in time, Lapsley may develop lyrics of greater poetic depth, but alongside her compositional originality, she possesses considerable vocal gifts. Her voice can be ethereal and beautiful, but in lieu of a second vocalist, she cleverly shifts its pitch electronically. Such production flourishes, far from detracting from the emotional core of her work, deepen its impact. Such is the rate of progress of this prodigy, that I'm already feeling excited to experience her development by April at Coachella.
Set List
- Burn (B side from Hurt Me single)
- Tell Me The Truth
- Cliff
- Falling Short
- Dancing (from Understudy EP)
- Painter
- 8898 (from Understudy EP)
- Silverlake
- Operator (He Doesn't Call Me)
- Station
- Love Is Blind
- Seven Months
- Hurt Me (Encore)
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