Lucy Zirins
Album: What's In Front Of Me
Label: Gingersnap
Tracks: 6
Website: http://www.lucyzirins.com

Back in 2010, aged just 18, Burnley-born (now London-based) singer-songwriter Lucy was tipped as promising by the PRs, going on to reach finalist status in the 2014 UK Country Radio awards barely a year after receiving acclaim (and a good measure of BBC radio airplay) for her 2013 debut album Chasing Clocks. Lucy’s assured vocal presence is even more to the fore on this year’s followup EP What’s In Front Of Me, despite the presence of a full backing band – her live touring band The Southern Company – who add double bass, keys, strings, guitars, mandolin and drums to the mix. This extra level of texturing enables the genre-bending nature of Lucy’s music to provide contrasting moods and styles, from the lilting, reflective title song to the rocking strut of Changing Ground, the confessional vibe of Fall To Pieces to the bluesy Worry And The Wine, the pleading Mercy to the ornate folksiness of closing song You Won’t Remember Me.

I think it only fair to say that overall I found this new offering a little less distinctive than I was expecting, and around half of the material really didn’t make a great impression. I’ve not yet had the opportunity to compare it with Chasing Clocks, however, so this may seem an unfair and uninformed observation. Either way, the album provides evidence that there’s a good deal of talent chez-Zirins – perhaps it just needs channelling more.

David Kidman