Lucy Rose - This Ain't The Way You Go Out (COMM576) LP

British musician Lucy Rose released a third album, No Words Left, back in 2019. It garnered the strongest critical acclaim of her career and culminated in a sell-out show at London's Barbican theatre. It was a record that ruminated in a sort of hushed reverence, emotionally charged and deftly delivered.

Lucy had planned to spend some well-earned time at home in the record's aftermath, having toured relentlessly since her late teens. She'd balanced that precariously spinning plate by forming her own record label too, Real Kind Records, putting out new records by artists she admired and thought deserved her due care and attention. With both plates spinning, she managed to catch them just before the pandemic ensured her plan for some rest and recuperation became an enforced reality. She welcomed her first child, Otis, in the summer of 2021. All was well until she was diagnosed with a rare form of pregnancy induced osteoporosis.

With a life being lived upside down, and only now without the indignity of excruciating pain, making music wasn't seeded top of Lucy's priority list. Any fleeting thought of writing a new record, or even sitting down with a guitar or at a piano, took a back seat to building up the strength to walk and care for Otis. As her confidence started to rebuild, so did her usual inhibitions in the making of music. Inspired by a trip to America with friend and rapper Logic, she later worked with renowned producer Kwes to finish the record.

This Ain't The Way You Go Out is an album constructed from the ashes of despair, nurturing the tiniest of green shoots and giving life to something that had looked otherwise spent. It's a new era for Lucy, and an era in its purest, truest sense. An artist re-awakening herself to the power of music, and having a lot of fun in the process of its discovery and delivery.

1. Light As Grass
2. Could You Help Me
3. Dusty Frames
4. Whatever You Want
5. Interlude I
6. Life's Too Short
7. This Ain't The Way You Go Out
8. Over When It's Over
9. Sail Away
10. Interlude II
11. No More
12. The Racket