Shout it loud . . . Lulu’s made a humdinger
HAViNG cut her musical teeth in the Swinging Sixties, Lulu has always had an intuitive grasp of what makes a decent pop song. She first proved as much during the early days of British beat, when she announced her arrival with a raucous cover of The isley Brothers’ Shout.
That was over half a century ago. But the skills acquired over a lifetime in music have served her well, and the former teenage soul sensation, now 66, makes her experience count on Making Life Rhyme. The Glaswegian’s first album in ten years, it is a fitting showcase for a voice that retains all its old power.
This album had its origins in a club gig Lulu played two years ago with some American session men at B.B. king’s Blues Club & Grill in New York. Fired up, she decamped to the studio with a small blues band and began writing songs with her brother and long-term collaborator, Billie Lawrie.
The outcome is a record that touches on blues, soul and rock, seeking inspiration from the Sixties and Seventies. Lulu says she is a fan of Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift and ed Sheeran, but she doesn’t chase contemporary trends here, preferring to keep faith with more traditional styles.
Another collaborator is guitarist Jim Cregan, a close associate of Rod Stewart. Cregan co- wrote the song Brighton Beach on Rod’s chart-topping 2013 album Time.
Like that late- career confessional, Making Life Rhyme is sometimes over- cooked. But it has the same sense of soulful dignity that reflects well on its maker.
Lulu was always the little girl with a big voice, and the first two numbers here reiterate her rasping power.
Underpinned by driving drums and strong hooks, Faith in You and every Single Day are a throwback to the days when her bluesy tone earned the admiration of eric Clapton and the Rolling Stones.
But, despite an accent pitched somewhere between Caledonia and California, and some blustery arrangements, she is capable of tenderness: The Answer is Love is a tuneful ballad; Cry an aching confessional.
The twice-divorced singer has talked about Making Life Rhyme as a highly personal album.
‘i’ve been lucky in life, but i’ve also dealt with demons, anxiety and sadness,’ she says, and many of these songs bear the hallmarks of hard-won romantic wisdom.
The Answer is Love is weighed down by self-help platitudes, but the title track peels away the public persona of a star looking back ruefully on ‘all the years i was hiding’.
Luckily, Lulu also sounds as if she is having fun. Heaven Help displays an excellent understanding of Sixties doo-wop and girl-group styles, while Hypnotised, adorned by horns and handclaps, is such a slick anthem of female empowerment that it makes you wonder whether she was the original Spice Girl.
There are two well- chosen covers, too. Jimi Hendrix’s rock ballad Angel sticks closely to the arrangement that gave Rod Stewart a hit, while a country-folk take on the traditional Wayfarin’ Stranger ends the album on a poignant, reflective note.
Considering that Lulu has been quiet for a decade, Making Life Rhyme is an accomplished return.
in her heyday, she was a classic singles act, famous for bubblegum pop hits like The Boat That i Row and eurovision entry Boom Bang-A-Bang. Now, in her seventh decade, she might just have made the most complete album of her career.
MAKING Life Rhyme is out on Monday. Lulu starts a UK tour at The Lowry, Salford, on May 10 (gigsandtours.com).