My first show case ~ Introducing Låpsley

I'm so excited to write about Låpsley. If you looked at me right now, as I am writing this you would think other wise. I'm full of hayfever and I'm kind of a mess, but I'm truly excited to talk about this incredibly talented artist.  

I first discovered Låpsley's music late one night when I was up stressing about what to pack for Europe. I was Googling 'UK artists to watch' as I've always had a love for the Brit's music, especially in recent years. Låpsley was about halfway down on this list. I was getting pretty sleepy at this point and the few acts above her on this same list weren't grabbing my attention. I was about to call it a night, when I saw the word Låpsley, which was a foreign word to me. Still puzzled on how you pronounce this artist's name, I watched the film clip for 'Brownlow'. The song starts with an electronic sound, which is then partnered with an electric drumbeat. The visual is a blonde woman driving a car, but when the first lyrics start, it is a distorted man-like voice. Confused once again, I then heard a beautifully sweet voice cutting through the other sounds. Grabbing my attention, my sleepy eyes drew open. Then all the sounds, but the electronic sound stop. In comes a sharp as a knife angelic voice full of powerful lyrics - “I wouldn't say that I wasn't always comfortable in my own skin”, “ It's like jumping into a pool that I don't know where the bottom is”. From this moment I was already reading up on this artist and looking for her other songs.

Låpsley is Holly Lapsley Fletcher, who was born in '96 in Britain. She has been making music since 2013 and released her first EP through Soundcloud that she made in her bedroom. The talent of this 19 year old singer/producer genius is overwhelming for a 23 year old who can't sing in key(me).

Whilst she hasn't hit Down Under just yet she has had a lot of love in her home country, being played on BBC Radio 1 and granted a slot at the 2014 Glastonbury Festival's BBC Introducing Stage by Huw Stephens and Zane Lowe. Her tracks 'Falling Short' reached 6 on the UK Indie charts and her new single 'Hurt Me' reached 23 on the same chart. Låpsley signed with XL Recordings at the end of last year and I can imagine she is currently working on an album to be released in the near future.

What I love about her music is that composition of the atmospheric music and her clean strong lyrics and voice. As I said above, I really dig what is coming out of Britain in the last few years. So it's a plus when you can tell instantly that she's British with her accent within her vocals. I believe this is an artist still finding her sound. She is experimenting with what type of artist she wants to be. Whilst the EP she released on her Soundcloud was more electronic, her more recent releases, being on her label are more developed and show case a more soulful pop feel whilst still staying true to her unique sound.

Songs to check out:

Painter - A song you can lay on the floor with your eyes shut

Hurt Me- Her new single , A gut wrenching anthem for a broken heart.

I hope you love this artist as much as I do. I become obsessed with her. Whilst on the bus travelling around Europe I would just put my earphone in and blast her music with the visual of the French country side. Her music will always take me back to those memories. She is a talent and I hope her only good fortune in the music industry. I hope to hear her on our airways soon!

Download on iTunes or stream on Soundcloud 

WELCOME TO WITHIN THE MUSIC

This is a blog for someone who appreciates music, loves discovering new artists, and may not have the time to go searching. 

I will do all the hard work, present them to you and if you like them we can start to build a great relationship together!

This whole idea for this blog came to me when my cousin who is in her 30s with a job and two young kids, asked me to make her a mix CD with music that I love and current artists that she can discover. She reminisced that a few years ago she had her pulse on the music scene but the changes in her lifestyle, have caused her to be a tad busy to be up to date with the next big act or discovering indie artists. Even in the car, she said that children CDs rule her stereo that was once full of all sorts of music. She loves the mixed CD and has now passed it onto her mother (My Aunty), who also loves it!

I'm in no way stating that I'm some expert on what's good, have the best music taste or that I'm a trendsetter. I simply love discovering new acts that I haven't heard about yet and sharing them with close friends and family. So this is just a platform for me to share it with other people.

Now to introduce myself; my name is Darcy, born in 1992 and living in Melbourne. I grew up in a household that always had music blasting. Mum and Dad have a great music taste from Joni Mitchell, Joe Jackson, Tracy Chapman, Wendy Mathews to The Corrs, Crosby Still Nash and Young, Dire Straits, Fleetwood Mac, Tom Waits, Sherbet and Daddy Cool. My sister and I would often spend hours dancing around in the lounge room, to lots of different tunes. A music loving household, with no true musical ability. Even though this is true, it didn't stop my sister and I at an early age, from writing many wonderful songs that we would record using our tape machine, playing under the band name 'Brother and Sister'. Our music career was short, due to arguments over creative differences....

My love of music only grew more fierce once I hit my teens. I even tried the music avenue again by having guitar lessons for 2 years. Whilst trying so hard I just could never get that coordination thing right. At 16, I landed my first job at our local CD/DVD store, which exposed me to lots of different types of music, from customers and co-workers. I loved that feeling of opening a shipment of brand new releases and watching people rush in to pick up their copy. I got to go to work and talk about music all the time and try and convince customers to buy my favourite Aussie acts. It made me feel like I was part of the music system. This just made me itch even more to turn 18 so that I could go out to see all the live music Melbourne has to offer. Once I did I spent many nights at the Corner Hotel and other venues seeing bands that I only dreamed about seeing before.

After High School, I completed a Bachelor of Applied Business (Music Industry) which I learnt lots from both the business world and the music industry. This gave me experience in organising and putting on gigs, working in artist development with an incredible solo artist and interning at one of the world's top online music distributors. I also met a great bunch of like-minded people who made the threes years full of laughs.

This brings me to this year, 2015. I was lucky enough to go overseas to Europe and explore amazing  countries, full of history and beauty . One of the best times of my life and I cherish each memory and each beautiful person I met along the way. However, like everything it had to end. Currently I am still working at that same CD/DVD store that I got when I was 16, and planning the next stage of my life. Whilst I'm building up the funds again from going on my trip, I thought to keep my finger on the pulse of the ever-changing music industry, I would create this blog as a hobby.

I hope to post as often as I can, from new acts I discover to events and issues in the music industry. I hope it's insightful, interesting to read and a little bit of fun. I am no writer so if there is a spelling or grammar mistake, just turn a blind eye.

Most of all I can't wait to share with you all!