Sound InPhotos: Lucy Rose @ The Finsbury

Playing a host of new songs alongside tracks from her acclaimed debut record Like I Used To which was featured in our Albums of 2012 List; Lucy Rose and her band's intimate show at The Finsbury Pub in North London was a real treat. Announced a few days before and free for all, the show serviced as a warm up for Glastonbury festival.

New songs that featured included the jumpy 'Sheffield' which has featured in a few recent sets including her sold out night at Shepherd's Bush Empire, 'Köln' which has a powerful bassline and a great bridge to match; and 'Inverness', in which Rose's vocals layer onto a very Maccabees-esque track. Fan favourite 'All I've Got' also featured in the show. The track features on the deluxe
Live Editor Braden was on hand to take photos in a feature that we'll now call Sound InPhotos.

Lucy Rose - Interview

Sitting down with singer-songwriter Lucy Rose for a quick interview in a dressing room in Southampton, you realise the only thing that’s missing is the cup of tea. Lucy Rose Parton has been touring the country playing small venues and flogging her homemade jam and tea to the country who most appreciate it. “It’s ginger and plum, I just wanted whatever had ginger in it and then it depends on what fruits in season so it was rhubarb over the summer.”

By the end of the night Lucy’s Builder Grey tea is long gone and only three or four jars of lumpy ginger and plum fruit preserve is sat waiting to be sold. “My friends make it, it’s a charity which half of the money goes to.” London based Rubies in the Rubble is attempting to take out two birds with one stone by using fruit which is perfectly good quality but discarded and paying a number of the rising amount of unemployed in London to create these jams and chutneys.

Whilst selling her range of eccentric products, twenty three year old Lucy also makes her own brand of beautiful indie folk with her backing band of four. “We’ve been on tour since the first of October really. Europe first and then this is a five week UK tour, it’s kind of a long one.” Selling out sixteen dates of her 24 date tour around the British Isles Lucy and co are seeing crowds which they didn’t expect. “Newcastle was especially good, the singing was just so loud, I couldn’t believe it.” Latest single Bikes has racked up over a half a million hits on YouTube and is a highlight of the set. “Bikes is the last one of the set and it has been going down the best.”

Debut album Like I Used To was released at the end of September with Columbia music but Lucy hasn’t read any critical reception. “Hopefully reaction is good for the album I don’t really know how to gauge it. The albums not even been out two months so it’s hard to know how it has gone down. It is only at the beginning of its life so hopefully people will carry on sharing it and liking it.”

Lucy’s festival season may be long over but there are fond memories. “Reading was up there as one of my favourites. That was fun. Green Man was the first show we got an encore at so that was pretty mad, for a festival anyway. Field view was good as it was the first time I ever did a real stage dive. I had a really lucky and really fun festival season.”

Stage diving is becoming a regular occurrence of Lucy’s live set. “I did a ridiculous stage dive two nights ago in Brighton, it was completely insane. I did land on a few 15 year old girls and was worried.”

She only has nice words for the boys of Bombay Bicycle Club. “They’re five of my closest friends; we met in a pub three and a half years ago.” Lucy contributed vocal work to the albums Flaws and most recently A Different Kind Of Fix for the London four piece, but will there be more? “Who knows, if they ever ask me to work with them again in the future I will always say yes. I will just have to see what they do and what they decide to do next.”

So what’s next after the last few gigs on this tour? “Christmas, finally have a break. I’ve got gigs in Hong Kong in Shanghai and Beijing. Then next year but I’m not really sure what I’m doing yet.” Her date in Hong Kong is at Clockenflap Festival which she played last year with Bombay and now she returns to play herself. “I’ve never been to China though so Shanghai and Beijing should be really interesting.”

Adjectives are coming left right and centre to explain how much Lucy has appreciated the lovely crowd she’s received on this stint. Yet she explains the reputation of her live show is sometimes subject to a game of Chinese whispers. “Someone sent me a tweet saying I heard you give away free jam and tea at gigs, I want some.”

James Peckham

Bombay Bicycle Club - A Different Kind Of Fix

When 'Shuffle' was released a single, some fans were confused as to where the Bombay Bicycle Club they knew and loved had gone. Waking up the bleary eyed with a wonky piano riff, droning undertones and less formulaic production, 'Shuffle' is the point at which you can clearly see the influence that Animal Collective producer Ben Allen has had on Bombay Bicycle Club's third studio album A Different Kind Of Fix. Dissimilar to I Had The Blues... and Flaws, A Different Kind Of Fix doesn't contain songs like the instant hits that have made them so renowned through audiences young and old. For the North London based band, this is their most hotly anticipated album since Flaws charted at #2 in the UK charts which gained them plenty new fans who perhaps thought Bombay had found their niche and would stay with the acoustic sound.


Featuring on the Eclipse soundtrack, opener 'How Can You Swallow So Much Sleep' has become a fan favourite despite the fact that I doubt many of their fans actually saw the third installment of the demeaning Twilight series. The album goes from strength to strength as 'Bad Timing' is akin to the hits of 'I Had The Blues...' but sounding a lot more mature and with epic guitars of Interpol proportions. This is new territory for the band as they have released two very consistent and dare I say it, safe albums. There isn't a song on A Different Kind Of Fix that sounds similar to the next and Jack Steadman even treads on Thom Yorke's shoes in 'Still', where his falsetto bears a canny resemblance to the Radiohead frontman. 


New addition to both live shows and recording, Lucy Rose provides a soothing, female equivalent vocal to Jack Steadman's, producing perfect harmonious points on the album, most notably on 'Lights Out, Words Gone'. It feels as if they have really pushed the boundaries of their sound while still staying very true to themselves. Although A Different Kind Of Fix doesn't possess the instant charisma of I Had The Blues or the fairytale charm of Flaws, the record grows with every listen, it may not be that festival friendly but it's impossible to stop yourself singing along. Bombay Bicycle Club are releasing albums at breakneck speed and show no signs of slowing down for anyone. 


8/10
By Aurora Mitchell