STACK #185 Mar 2020

MUSIC REVIEWS

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Låpsley Through Water "The majority of impacts will be felt through water..." Her dad is a leading water engineer and this

Fanny Lumsden Fallow

After the witty wordplay of her first two albums, Fanny Lumsden – the 2017 New Talent Golden Guitar winner – tackles some serious subjects on her third offering. Call it the getting of wisdom. “Some of this is magic,” she reflects in This Too Shall Pass , “and some of this is pain.” Lumsden became a mum between albums, and Grown Ups also confronts the challenge of ageing parents. “Getting older is scary,” she sings. “Is it up to us now to carry on?” But then there’s hope in the title track, a duet with Lumsden’s brother, Thomas. Fanny Lumsden is a fine storyteller. And props to producer Matt Fell. His sensitive, subtle production allows these songs to shine. (Red Dirt Road/ CookingVinyl) Jeff Jenkins

album's title track sees Låpsley reciting snippets from one of his climate-change speeches, which she then samples over sparse, sombre piano chords, industrial percussion clanks and foreboding synth stabs. Låpsley's second album flows on from her four-track These Elements EP, which dropped last December, and these companion releases share two tracks: My Love Was Like The Rain , which sees

Låpsley choosing to embrace her flaws ("I wear them like a fragrance") and Ligne 3 - a song that channels the melancholy beauty of Kate Bush's masterpiece This Woman's Work . While creating this latest batch of material, Låpsley worked closely with Theo Brown (XL's in-house engineer) and production is minimal, intuitive and atmospheric throughout. During Our Love Is A Garden , Låpsley's vocal timbre - often described as androgynous - evokes The Temper Trap's Dougy Mandagi. When Låpsley sings, her voice is as pure and optimistic as divine light. Short interlude Leeds Liverpool Canal offsets military-precision beats with ascending/descending piano trills and the sound of lapping water. Although Through Water navigates heavy themes ( Sadness Is A Shade Of Blue ), hopeful moments such as Låpsley's latest, danceable single Womxn - an ode to her self-assured future self - lift us up. After taking a year away from music to recalibrate, Through Water showcases Låpsley in full bloom. A mesmeric collection of songs with substance in abundance. (XL Recordings/Remote Control) Bryget Chrisfield

Cable Ties Far Enough

US Girls Heavy Light

From the opening moments of Far Enough , it’s clear Cable Ties have expanded the scope. Back after sweeping awards and acclaim with their self-titled debut, Far Enough ’s opener foregrounds Jenny McKechnie’s indomitable vocal range before crashing into the punk rock proper. Returning to the well of leftist politics and lyrical acuity, Cable Ties’ platform kicks pricks both at the top end of town and laterally, positing that radical structural change starts with community. This manifests on record as personal, heartfelt songs balancing unleashed fury. Rarely has a band sounded so self-assured and comfortable bringing in new ideas. It’s a rallying cry worth rallying around.

As beguiling as she is masterful, Meg Remy’s seventh US Girls record makes further forays into disco-infused pop, featuring an array of sounds and voices to form her most varied work to date. A fire burns in Remy’s vocal on Born To Lose , before she surprises with a song partially in Spanish on And Yet It Moves/Y Se Mueve . Spoken word has become a key element to US Girls, with three tracks featuring dialogue where subjects are asked to relay scenes from their youth and provide their teenage self with advice. Remy has created yet another uncompromising record, pushing sonic boundaries and seamlessly blending the personal with the political. (Remote Control) Holly Pereira

Soccer Mommy Color Theory Over four albums Sophie Allison aka Soccer Mommy has become an ambassador for disenfranchised youth, giving voice to feelings of embarrassment, alienation and melancholy in a way that has become distinctly her own. With tracks bearing the titles royal screw up and crawling in my skin , her lyrics bear the

significance of diary entries, and her voice too possesses an anguish that isn’t shied away from. Musically, tracks step it up a gear as evidenced on the seven-minute epic yellow is the color of her eyes , with Allison’s rich guitar tones across the record perfectly accompanying the poignancy of her words.

(LomaVista) Holly Pereira

(Poison City) Jake Cleland

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MARCH 2020

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