Lucy Rose Live

We first featured Lucy Rose back in January. At the time we said “Lucy Rose lulls us with light and nostalgic musings to wash away the January blues”. It turns out those musings are even better in the sun-tinged days of May. Lucy is currently on a headline tour, ahead of her debut album release. It has been a while coming now.  She recently returned from North America, where she had been touring in support of Bombay Bicycle Club. The very same band for whom she  sung backing vocals on the second album, “Flaws”.  Her album may well be set to be a debut, but it certainly won’t be lacking in experience. All of which makes for a pretty exciting prospect.

We can also safely report that she puts on a breathtaking live show. Lucy played at The Portland Arms, Cambridge last Monday. It’s a tiny, wonderfully intimate, and slightly too warm venue. She played there last year, and said the crowd was so great she couldn’t not come back. Much of the crowd shared similar sentiments. It’s easy to see why.  The support act for the night was Nathan Holme, who did some pretty special things with a loop medal and woodsman-esque vocals. There were moments that bordered on brilliance. He delicately layered electronic melodies with folky sensibilities to reach the precipice of some potentially brilliant crescendos. That he choose to let those crescendos wash away, rather than carry them to their peaks, was the only disappointment.  Perhaps it was for the sake of artistic merit. Perhaps his sound may develop to include such intensity. I’m hoping for the latter.

Lucy stepped up without a word. When you’ve a voice like hers you need not introduce yourself. She opened delicately, with “Middle Of The Bed”, her vocals even more tender and soothing live than on record. The instrumentation was also more affecting. There was something wonderfully organic about the way her honeyed tones wove between the intensity of “Red Face”. Nathan had come close to building up to wonderfully layered crescendos. Lucy Rose (and her superb band) showed how it was done. We were treated to a couple of tracks from the upcoming album. The highlight of which was a song Lucy described as “mad, absolutely mad.” It certainly was. Guitar racked up to another level, with synth darting in and out of the intense percussion. Lucy’s usually composed voice straining to keep control, and yet proving all the more powerful for it. It was wonderful to see another, rawer, facet of their sound. It certainly hints at exciting things to come from the rest of the album. “Scar” was saved till the close, and as good as ever. The encore was suitably intimate. And the evening finished with Lucy selling jam and tea alongside the usual merch. She’s a lovely as she sounds.

W