Cautionary Tales of Youth

Cautionary Tales of Youth

True to its title, Holly Lapsley Fletcher’s third album as Låpsley details a range of nuanced emotional experiences from her mid-twenties. “Hotel Corridors” shares the intimidating sensation of having too many pathways to choose from in life, while “Dial Two Seven” touches on the English singer’s time spent in lockdown while visiting South Africa in early 2020. Working with a cast of producers including Joe Brown, Jessy Lanza, Paul White, and Greg Abrahams, Fletcher sings with tender vulnerability over understated electronic backdrops. An intimate portrait of fleeting domestic unease, “War and Peace” applies mellow sax licks and later harsher punctuations to reflect the interpersonal drama described in the song. Despite her increasingly subtle vocal work, Fletcher can still capture relatable feelings with undisguised directness. Celebrating the heady benefits of romance, she sings on “Paradise”: “I don’t need to think twice/Oh, this love is paradise.”

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