Holly Lapsley Fletcher, AKA Låpsley, was only 19 when her debut album drew comparisons to James Blake and The xx. Billie Eilish then named her as an influence. Now in her early 20s, the British musician has released a coming-of-age album.
The vocals are androgynous — sometimes loud and synthy, sometimes soulful and deep, sometimes soft and graceful. , Lead single Womxn reflects this ambiguity. The song is a promise to her future, more powerful self: “I stop judging her / I tell her who I wanna be / I look, I breathe / I feel like a womxn”.
Climate, water and the elements are running themes. The title and opening track samples a speech by her father (a prominent water engineer) about the impacts of environmental change felt through water. Shifting her pitch several times, an escalating vocal focuses on a world decaying: “I think about the oil underneath my feet / From the cars on the road to the tarmac beneath my feet.”
Låpsley self-produced for the first time on this record, and the result is an album that is a unique reflection of the ebb and flow of her own life.
