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Lou Rhodes:
Fans of Rhodes's previous group, Lamb, might be surprised by the singer's new pastoral direction. She maintains, though, that the fundamentals have always been the same. "There are certain subjects that set me on fire, and that's why I write about them," she says, the big one being love. - The Sunday Times
Lou Rhodes is known almost exclusively through her work with electronica duo Lamb, complex production animal daringly blending Rhodes's strong song-based vocals with jungle beats, trip-hop, ambient soundscapes, drum 'n' bass loops and electro-jazz. After a decade in the dance music arena, her emergence as a solo artist with a strikingly mellow, acoustic approach has surprised many of her old fans and plunged her fully-clothed into the nu-folk brother and sisterhood. In fact she has more justification than most to be included - her mum ran folk clubs and sang with duo Penny Wager while her stepfather Graham Burton, once a member of Hunter's Moon, plays guitar on her new album. Her first recording was singing Richard Farina's Quiet Joys Of Brotherhood with her mum on an album by AON. And Lou's first public performance was singing Joni Mitchell songs at the Red Lion Folk Club in Eccles. - F Roots
The simmering, glacial beauty of Lou Rhodes vocal, one half Manchester's acclaimed trip-hoppers Lamb, was showcased in quite splenetic fashion on her solo debut, 'Beloved One' last year. The record's under stated, fragile folk was windswept by Rhodes' vocal and much deserved of its Mercury Prize nomination.
This follow-up finds Rhodes in much darker territory. No longer is folk the main protagonist to her sound as opener, 'The Rain' demonstrates. Haunting swoops of melody beloved of artists such as Sufjan Stevens are evident, adding depth and weight to these intricate compositions 'All We Are' and spins wildly on the nocturnal 'They Say.' 'Bloom' indicates Rhodes' vocal has discovered its finest backing yet and whisper it quietly, written one of the finest, most enthralling albums of the year. - Clash
Andy Barlow's innovative instrumentation and Lou Rhodes' lovely lilting voice have made Lamb one of the most engaging acts of the last decade. The beats and instrumentation are inventive, but it's Rhodes' voice that enveops the listener in warmth. Her emotional opennes and vulnerability are what really endears, so that when she flies solo here - stripping the tronica out of their folktronica, if you will - the connections are even purer. there's a real agrarian back-to-basics ethic at work on this collection, barely evidenced since Michelle Shocked's Texas Campfire Tapes. Just judicious use of strings and guitar, and that gorgeous, gordeous voice. On Each Moment New, Lou's pipes soar across fields like Joan Baez at her finest. Cathartic, delicate, beautiful songs of substance.
Carl Loben - MOJO
Given the fractious nature of their relationship, Lamb's divorce in 2004 came as no surprise. What is surprising is singer Louise Rhodes' first solo album, which shuns the polite drum 'n' bass of her previous incarnation in favour of exquisite folk, betraying the set's conception on a commune in Surrey. Evidently she has grown to love the great outdoors, for these songs, particularly "No Re-Run", "Each Moment New" and "Save Me", marry the intensity of a jilted lover to the wonderment of a pastoral Kate Bush. The Chinese violins and gently plucked guitars further underline Rhodes' distance from herformer self. - Uncut
The follow-up to the Mercury-nominated Beloved One, Rhodes’s new record is a more muscular, clamorous affair than its predecessor. Bloom finds her in Kate Bush territory, as backing vocals, strings, keyboards and percussion build multilayered casings around her ethereal, experimental folk. “There’s a time when independence starts to look like loneliness,” Rhodes sings, as eerie strings stalk and dewdrop xylophone punctuates the title track. The lyric implies that she has shaken off the personal crises that inspired Beloved One, but – luckily for us – her songs remain as satisfyingly strange and sepulchral as ever. - Sunday Times
Discography
The Rain (single)
The Rain is the debut single from Lou's second solo album 'Bloom' and was released in the UK on September 24 2007.
Bloom
'Bloom' is Lou's 2nd solo album and was released in the UK and Australia on October 1 2007.
Beloved One (UK Edition)
Lou's Mercury Music Prize 2006 nominated debut solo album.
Tremble (single)
3 song single taken from 'Beloved One' containing 2 new songs not on the album...
Photos
Bio
Can I whisper in your ear, a secret for every soul to hear?
-Greatness (In a Speck of Dust)
I get this feeling in my core when I need to express something in a song. They come out in an outpouring of my heart. Its not in my head, its in my gut.
This is the simple, singular motivation that has helped Lou Rhodes nurture a brilliant career, first as a member of trip-hop architects Lamb and now as a lauded solo artist. Well versed in the language of the heart, she is a conduit between the absolute truths of the soul and the fallible complexities of the world around her. With Beloved One, she took a step back from the electronic intricacies of Lamb and embraced a folk music aesthetic that provided an intimate, unvarnished forum for her voice. It was an album she desperately needed to make, and in the summer of 2006, it was nominated for the UKs prestigious Mercury Music Prize.
Her story continues to unfold on the appropriately titled Bloom, an album that illuminates her creative growth and further examines the fine line between darkness and wonder. She adds to her palate of finely tuned acoustic guitars and rich percussion with flowing double-bass work, exquisite string arrangements and other hand-played instruments that expand the depth of her songwriting. Still, the lynchpin remains Rhodes resplendent voice, and her incomparable ability to turn her soul inside out and bare it to the world, regardless of what maybe revealed.
With a compact, well traveled group of players at her side and the confidence obtained from Beloved Ones critical acclaim, Lou has distilled a more resolute collection of songs on Bloom. Her guitar melodiesthe essence of every arrangementremain demure and luminous, but are now enveloped by rich instrumentation that amplifies the emotional crux of each composition. The addition of a simple xylophone pattern on the haunting, effortless Never Loved transforms a gracious billet-doux into a lovers fairytale, while the commanding, big room drums in The Rain expose shared influences within the group.
At some point in the studio me, Emre and Stephen found ourselves tapping into a common root wed all listened to Zeppelin like there was no tomorrow when we were growing up There was a certain way that [John] Bonham used to mic up his kit, and we used the same set-up for The Rain.
Elsewhere, They Say begins as a vulnerable proclamation of love in the face of admonishment, with Rhodes sweetly singing, If love is a prison, they can throw away the key. But slowly the song descends into disquietude amid a crescendo of crashing cymbals, wailing vocals, and fiercely strummed guitars. The lyric doesnt change, but the romantic analogy is gone. Only the prison remains.
These songs are so close to the bone, Lou admits. People think that Im kind of remote and that Ive got life sussed, but Im a million miles away from that. People have used terms like ethereal and spiritual to describe me, but in a way I think Bloom is about the real woman. Theres a lot of torment going on that Im not able to express.
Theres a time when independence feels a lot like loneliness, she sings over a finger-plucked, minor chord melody. I can dance without you, but Id rather dance with you.
If you portray to the world that youre completely self-containedwhich believe me Ive spent most of my life doingit leaves you in a very isolated place. But I think Im done with that now.
Were all searching for something, and I havent found it yet
http://www.agrecords.co.uk
http://www.myspace.com/lourhodes
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