Rebecca Van Cleave
Album: The Bedroom Sessions EP
Label: Troubadour
Tracks: 4
Website: https://rebeccavancleave.bandcamp.com/releases

I first encountered Rebecca when I was listening to an EP by Samuel Taylor in which she had provided some backing volcals. Not only was her voice beautiful, it blended so well with Sam's that I assumed that she must be a professional singer who hadn't yet crossed my radar, but it turned out that that backing track was her first time on record as a musician.

Despite that, there is every chance that you have seen her before. She is one of those enviably people who excels at everything they do, and despite her young age she has done a lot. She is a model, and has appeared in many advertisments including Absolute Vodka, Playstation, Head and Shoulders, Schweppes and Dunlop. Amongst her titles listed on her facebook page is Director, but it is as an actor that she is most well known, having appeared in the series "The Royals", taking the lead in the Mini Horror film "The Prey" - due for its World premier at the Mile High Horror Film Festival in Colorado, but primarly in Game Of Thrones.

She was born in England but her family moved to Virginia when she was five. To further her acting career she moved back to London in 2012, and she is now living in Sheffield. She has therefore tried to include both her English and American musical influences in her EP in a style she has called "Deep South Yorkshire".

Her voice and song writing style, particularly in "Beverley Street", remind me a bit of Suzanne Vega, so perhaps there's a touch of West Coast Yorkshire in there as well.

It is very easy when analysing someone's lyrics to assume that they are autobiographical, but I am fairly confident in my assumption that the first track on "The Bedroom Sessions" was written from personal experierence. "Beverley Street" is a song about home sickness, and describes a young person who has arrived in London to try and make their fortune, scared and lonely about living in a strange town, with their parents encouraging words still ringing in their ears. Judging by how well her modelling career, her acting career and hopefully her musical career are now doing, it does appear that her decision to come to England was worth any initial pangs of regret.

The second track is simply called "N.R.T." and at first I assumed that this must be someone's initials, but then I realised that it is almost certainly a play on the abbreviation H.R.T. (for hormone replacement therapy), but in this case it is Nicotine Replacement Therapy - she was seeking a stronger drug, i.e. Love, to help reduce nicotine cravings.

There's a little acoustic riff on the third track, "Everest" that has a Wishbone Ash feel about it. I think the title comes from a feeling of being engulfed by an avalanche when you fall in love.

I think that the last track, "I'm Losing You" is not just a sad song about the end of a relationship, but from the way it is constructed, i.e. beginning and ending with a similar verse where "he" meets "she", I think it is a cautionary tale warning young girls about how some males can be untrustworthy. Any man who ends a previous relationship to go out with you is just as likely to dump you when the next pretty face comes along.

Four beautiful, well crafted, well produced songs. I do worry though that Rebecca isn't likely to sell many copies of her EP without a few live performances or a few youtube videos to introduce herself to the public. As far as I can tell, she has only ever played live twice, once at Cornbury Festival as part of a group called The Apologies, and once in a cafe in Sheffield supporting Sam Taylor, and unfortunately neither gig was videoed. Yes, there are videos of her on the net, but clips of horror films and Game of Thrones may not be relevant or suitable for Fatea.

Becca. I know you are busy with your other careers, but we want more live performances. The Bedroom Sessions definitely deserves a wider audience.

Pete Bradley