Wineberry Records

****

A superlative songwriter with a fine, gentle voice, Romford-based folk-pop artist, Lucy Kitt strikes metaphorical gold with her sophomore album, released some seven years after her STAND BY debut. One of the finest, most searching songwriters of the day, this is a whole new songbook of stories and melodies. These are often dark tales of trouble, grief, break-up, regrets and depression—but swinging from the kind of well-crafted melodies that survive. She has managed to craft her own unique style of music by resurrecting elements of 1970s Laurel Canyon singer-songwriters, English folk-rock, West Coast country-rock and even echoes of the Lemonheads and Veruca Salt …blending them with the simplicity of folk. She proves she is more than the sum of her parts, whether it's how she uses her voice, or how she fleshes out her songs with a compelling mix of back-to-basics acoustic guitars-and-hooks with truly sublime sonic explorations, utilising understated splashes of keyboards, pedal steel, electric guitar and drums, crafting subtle full band grooves. For all its familiar textures, it still feels entirely fresh: proudly a modern folk record; a songwriter’s album to cherish.

It takes a good deal of bravery to write and record songs that are so naked and unflinching, and it pays off: Lucy Kitt’s courage and palpable investment in the material makes it easy to connect and empathise with her subject matter. Vivid imagery colours the deeply personal writing on What Would I Do, as she lightly treads a folk-country terrain, with wafting pedal steel and a delicate toe-tapping rhythm that gently disguises the pathos of this break-up song. There’s a tender beauty to the all-too-brief Resting Blues, with the finely picked acoustic guitar adding to the simplicity of this heartwarming remembrance of a close friend sadly taken too soon. Mining her introspective side, Tides uses strident guitars and shadowy harmonies for a song that recalls the haunted sounds of Daniel Lanois.

The hypnotic Lonely Rose showcases her growing abilities as a writer. This one concerns a heartbroken person who’s hoping for a resuscitation of a failed relationship. Tackling a complicated love affair with bare acoustic guitar chord progressions and eerie pedal steel, Like This, features emotive lyricism and heartfelt vocals to stop you in your tracks. I was also impressed by the light and lithe power of Waiting Game, an uplifting dose of positivity in gloomy times. Honing her graceful, emotive acoustics and age-defying lyricism and delivery, a feeling of isolation resonates seeping through her dulcet tones, whilst breathing in the air of hope and positivity, as it tackles the despair of loneliness with a spring in its step.

Almost ridiculously deft in finding new pathways between contemporary musical thought and the traditional folk idiom, credit should also be given to co-producer/engineer Dave Holmes and the skilled players including Jay Starkey on drums, Nashville-based pedal steel virtuoso Spencer Cullum, Treetop Flyer’s Sam Beer and longtime collaborator Pat Kenneally on drums and piano. 

https://www.laurelcanyonuk.com › lucy-kitt

October 2025