British singer-songwriter Lucy Rose's fourth album 'No Words Left' is powerful and reflective [Music Review]
British singer-songwriter Lucy Rose lays her feelings bare on her fourth album, No Words Left. The record has the acoustic folk sound that the musician is known for, but it is more stripped back here, with a greater emphasis on emotions and lyrics.
The result is a sophisticated, powerful collection of songs. The stark piano chords on Conversation, and the tumultuous jazz solo on Solo(w) show a much more fragile, honest Rose, as she sings, “Pretending like I have a purpose/Well now that’s long gone/ ’Cause something’s missing when I am solo”.
This reflective tone quickly shifts to questions of the outside world; in Treat Me Like A Woman, Rose achingly sings, “I’m terrified that these things won’t ever change,” over her trademark acoustic sound.
The Confines Of This World has a most satisfying chorus, with guitar and voice in perfect unison, while the country-tinged Save Me From Your Kindness is another warm but dark juxtaposition, with the line, “I’m not sure of anything” underpinning the entire theme of this album.
No Words Left is both despairing and cathartic. Despite its sadder moments, there’s a reassurance that gradually evolves throughout the record. Even as closer Song After Song repeats the refrain, “I’m still blue”, it is delivered with a ray of hope, beaming through the overwhelming cloud of this record.
Edited by Charlotte Ames-Ettridge