Bleep

Whereas many artists who hit it big are often keen to follow-up their breakthrough hit as quickly as possible, Låpsley has taken her time. The Merseyside singer has spent four years honing Through Water, the follow-up to her successful 2016 debut LP Long Way Home. The result is a set of tunes which, while considered and more worldly than those of Long Way Home, still display the spark and heart that drew so many to Låpsley in the first place.

Many of the songs here blend sturdy songcraft with a distinctly modern take on the ballad style. Records by several other XL luminaries are recalled across Through River, from the woozy crooning of King Krule’s recent Man Alive! to the gently-digitised soul stylings of Bobby Womack’s The Bravest Man In The Universe. Tracks such as ‘My Love Is Like The Rain’ may shimmer and shine with all sorts of melodious electronics and production trickery, but at their core they are simple and heartfelt songs. The balancing act between singer and studio that Through Water pulls off gives it an effect not dissimilar to Poliça’s recent records.

Låpsley’s second LP Through Water is a collection of intimate modern pop numbers from a singer who appears to have woken up to her full musical potential.