Ballads with an electronic twist
Lapsley’s ‘Long Way Home’ draws from multiple genres
What’s the Deal? “Hipster Adele” sounds like faint praise, but it’s an apt-descriptor for the haunting piano and electronic-backed songs that make up British singer-producer Lapsley’s debut album. Born Holly Lapsley Fletcher, the 19-year-old cut her musical teeth first on piano and oboe before discovering dance music while exploring Liverpool’s music scene in her early teens. She taught herself Garageband and started releasing her nascent compositions, including a cover of New Order’s “Blue Monday,” on the Internet.
Last year’s Understudy EP, released by XL Recordings, whetted appetites for her debut album, Long Way Home. In trying to meet her own high expectations for the record, Fletcher went on a writing spree.
“I have like two albums worth of songs,” she says. “It was quite therapeutic.”
Weaving in previously released tracks like “Station” and “Falling Short,” Fletcher assembled a collection of songs that detail her yearlong relationship with a partner suffering from mental illness. “There are a lot of metaphors about not being able to reach them, not in a physical way, but on an emotional level.”
Long Way Home marked the first time Fletcher recorded in a professional studio — previously everything had been recorded on her laptop. Last spring she travelled to Los Angeles, where she met with producers with whom she tried to collab- orate. But the highly personal nature of the songs coupled with the prevailing attitudes about her age and gender turned the trip into a creative washout.
“If I’m going to work with someone I’m going to be specific. When another name is mentioned next to yours, people are going to assume that they did all the work,” she says. “I entered this industry because I wanted to be able to do what I wanted and I’m not going to change that.”
Sum up what you do in a few simple sentences? While Fletcher’s earliest work was more purely electronic, Long Way Home marries her chilly production style with more analog touches.
“I didn’t put any restrictions on myself,” she says. “I tried to push myself as a writer and experiment a bit and dip into genres that I didn’t think I would like — disco, soul and ambient music.”
What’s the song I need to hear right now? Self-lacerating ballad “Hurt Me” perfectly captures Fletcher’s skill at bringing together classic songwriting and modern electronic production a la James Blake or Jamie XX.
Where can I see her play?: Lapsley plays the Mod Club Tuesday.