Lucy & the Caterpillar
Hmm. It’s quite possible you might listen to this and find yourself choking on the sweetness.
I find I have to tread very carefully with music like this because it slips very subtly from the unbearable (Kate Nash) to the brilliant (Ruth Theodore). Where in between these two extremes does the lovely Lucy sit? Well certainly much closer to Ruth, although she definitely seems to be more of a flibbertigibbet that that fine lady. She’s not as witty as Emmy the Great, who I kind of like, but generally more wistfully melancholy, which brings a dreamy sweetness to her music which neither Emmy nor Ruth ever seem to quite manage.
I’m not trying to be clever with the first name terms here, either, it just seems way, way more approriate for this kind of faux-naïf waifstrel persona.
I think that when it comes down to it what makes the two songs I was sent charming and engaging might have a lot to do with the fiddle work. She’s working with the Earlies at the moment, which may explain that, and I believe Emmy the Great is also doing some work them as well. Most of the pathos of the music seems to lie in there; it’s a sort of gently nostalgic sound, shot through with something of an old time American folk vibe and is genuinely gorgeous.
Lucy’s Opinion is out shortly, but her previous single Red Red Wine (mercifully no, not that Red Red Wine) is available for purchase from her site, and the one before that, King’s Cross, can be found on Alcopop. I think my recommendation here has to be a little qualified. Lucy hasn’t recorded all that many songs just yet, so it’s hard to tell where she’s going from here. Any closer to Nashworld and I think I will lose interest pretty much immediately, but if she continues to play with that wistfully sad fiddle and keeps from being too pretty (musically of course, I don’t care what she looks like) then I reckon she has the potential to be very good indeed.
Lucy & the Caterpillar – Beans on Toast
Lucy & the Caterpillar – I Don’t Want Your Stupid Crisps
site | myspace | buy single
