Review: Låpsley – Long Way Home

5
80%
80
Heartfelt

Minimalistic electronica and sophisticated vocals combine for a polished debut from Låpsley.

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Long Way Home is the debut album from Låpsley. It feels like it has been a long time in the making – particularly for those who have been listening to Holly Lapsley Fletcher since she released her Monday EP back in 2014 – but in no way does her debut fall short.

Following the release of the sophisticated ‘Love Is Blind’, I felt a certain anxiety that the excitement of previous release ‘Hurt Me’, with its vocal distortions and synth heavy reverberations, would be lost on the album in favour of a safer recluse into Adele inspired ballads. Thankfully, Long Way Home harnesses both. Låpsley constructs a careful balance between ballad and excitement here, marrying her sophisticated vocals with contemporary tingles for an album that tells the story of a long distance relationship. Just a heads up, the prospects of long distant relationships look a little bleak on this album- even if Låpsley’s velvety voice does transform despair into something quite beautiful.

Bringing with it inflections of the soft electronic coos of London Grammar, Long Way Home opens with ‘Heartless’. Låpsley’s unhurried vocals are layered over an exciting drumbeat, which serves as the perfect predecessor to previously released ‘Hurt Me’. ‘Hurt Me’ is among five tracks previously released by Låpsley, standing alongside ‘Falling Short’ on the album. It’s one of the more synth heavy tracks, with vocal distortions that add a split dimension whilst maintaining her omnipresent clarity of her voice and lyrics. The deep plunges at the chorus nod towards new track ‘Cliff’, which opens with gentle “oohs” and distant tinkles before developing a darker tone, with a depth created by booming drums that merge into gentle piano melodies as the track progresses.

‘Operator (He Doesn’t Call Me)’ is the most compositionally interesting track on the album. It’s strange and jazzy; fun and bouncy. It gives a totally different tone, initially jolting about midway through the album, but once the dust settles, the old school jazz inflections are well-suited to the slightly vintage feel of the singer’s vocals. It’s here that Låpsley explicitly states “long distance takes its toll”, which, as a some of us know, it generally does. 2015’s ‘Painter’ serves as a more understated follow-up to the previous track, shimmering with wind chimes and vocal distortions that prefigure the higher vocal range found on ‘Station’.

‘Love Is Blind’ and ‘Silverlake’ echo a sophisticated sound with sole focus on Låpsley’s vocals, which eternally evoke a tone older than her years. ‘Silverlake’ is a track crowded with repetition, as softly trodden lyrics are buried under the fast sung “the space that comes between us like the ivy in the house” as the tempo of the track is picked up and it plunges into the chorus. Amidst the repetition is a growing string sequence that brings an orchestral tone to the track, creating a dimension of something epic, but softly so.

‘Seven Months’ explicitly rounds up the end of the relationship that runs through the album as the singer acknowledges, “I felt some kind of shift / I know that we all drift.” It’s honest and personal, and something that people can relate to- however obvious an album ploy that might be.

Låpsley’s craft of minimalistic electronica that delves into the relatable breakdown of a relationship creates a raw and accessible honesty. Long Way Home is a polished debut, maintaining a continuity whilst avoiding monotony and, importantly, showcasing Låpsley’s statement vocals.

Love Is Blind is out now via XL Recordings.

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Third year English student, Records Editor, list maker and lover of Kinder Buenos.

5 Comments

  1. Obviously you’re a bigger fan of Lapsley in general than I am – I only heard about her when ‘Hurt Me’ got played by Annie Mac as her Hottest Record last summer. But I loved that song almost immediately. And of course you’ve listened to the full album multiple times in the last few days, whereas I only just listened to it for the first time today. So…

    I didn’t really like it. Or rather, I don’t feel anything towards it, beyond roundly disappointed and indifferent.

    • To be honest I think I’ve had a more positive experience than most, The Guardian hit it up with 3 stars so I guess were more in the underwhelmed realm that you’re in. Usually, I’ll listen lots, write the review, then when I return to the music I have a totally different reaction- but with this I didn’t!

      At the same time, I can understand why it isn’t necessarily super exciting or anything. I still love Lapsley though.

      • It’s just this element of musical contrarianism within me – I like Jack Garratt, but a lot of people have said they’re loving him right now, but I’ve listened to like 20 other albums since his, and have at least 5 that I enjoyed more on the first listen. Similar deal with Lapsley, but when I go back and listen to it a second time (as I did with Garratt last night), I expect I’ll be more at peace with my initial indifference, and probably come out thinking more positive things.

      • It’s also proof that Music is alchemy, not just in its production, but in as much as how different listeners react to it. And then, when you have exposure to wider styles and greater numbers of artists than most, it can actually be harder to pin down exactly what it is about different things that works, because so much of it depends on the context for individual listeners.

        • I was so underwhelmed by Jack Garratt’s debut, I would have given it 3/5 if I was being generous. To me it felt messy and disjointed, which is a shame because his sound really is interesting. I’ve enjoyed a lot of other albums more than his this year!

          It’s also more interesting that we have different reactions to things based on our knowledge/experience of the artist, how much we’ve listened to them before and such. Basically music makes you feel things and THAT’S GREAT

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