On The Eve Of Something Special

Eve and Eve is the debut album from Lottie, a singer/songwriter from the UK who has been living in Singapore. The themes of displacement and finding love are the driving forces in this exceptional set of songs. With an 80s sensibility in terms of her music Lottie finds herself firmly in the tradition of Soft Cell and particularly Bronski Beat in bringing issues of sexuality to the fore, but always in a subtle way that allows her audience to take the messages they choose from her songs. So, let’s see what is in this album.

Album opener, Distorted, is a really strong start. It has an opening that reminds me of Giorgio Moroder and immediately shows the exceptional voice that Lottie possesses. It is a song that reflects on a search for something that will give focus and direction to her life, and rewards repeated listening, drawing you in and making you consider the way you are going in your own life. Lights Out has a smoky vocal that gives the song a brooding quality as she reflects on a relationship that didn’t really work out. She can’t work out why her lover wasn’t prepared to give herself fully to the relationship when she was committed to making it work. It is a song that reminds me of Alison Moyet and it is a slow burning soulful and classy piece of music. The opening trio of songs is completed by Honey. Here, we have a relationship that burns with passion and intensity and a woman who has become central to Lottie’s existence. This is a gorgeous evocation of pure love and a refusal to be cowed by a society that often doesn’t understand or acknowledge the intensity and beauty of their relationship. It is an absolutely stunning track, especially lyrically, and definitely one of my favourites on the album.

Of the Night has a distorted chord to start a song which talks of a relationship that is drifting to its end. Her girlfriend is always waiting for ‘the call of the night’ to give anything to the relationship, but it is ultimately ‘another love that’s gone to waste’. There is a brittleness in both the vocals and the music that gives an indication of frustration and anger as well as confusion. It shows a young artist who already has a huge range at her disposal. Indigo is quite simply one of the tracks of 2021. It has a euphoric tune that contrasts with the more reflective lyrics as Lottie considers her infatuation for a girl she has little power to resist. While she knows that her lover is ‘slipping away’ the passion is too strong to resist out there on the dance floor. As with many of the songs so far, the action takes place at night. It seems that her life splits into darkness and light, night and day, without ever really coming together as a whole. No More has a really intriguing tune and an air of unreality that sees it take on the atmosphere of a vivid hallucinogenic experience as Lottie mourns the fact that she has to say goodbye to someone who she once loved, and in fact probably still does. It is another side to this incredibly varied album as you catch an undercurrent of slow building anger with her girlfriend or perhaps with herself. The vocal range and the way she puts across these subtle negative emotions is just fantastic.

The last quartet of songs starts with Lover. It reflects on an ‘A star student’ whose heart was broken by boys discovering the joys of a woman with whom she feels safe. She realises a lot of people will not understand why they are ‘so damn perfect’, but why should she care? It is, perhaps, a song about self-acceptance in the face of societal pressures and it is profoundly moving on many levels. She was Mine is another beautiful track that reflects on lost love, a clear theme on this album. However, there is the feeling that every experience has helped her to grow into herself as a person. She may want to ‘rewrite all our time’ but she can look back on the woman she lost and the relationship that ended with affection as well as sadness. Vocally, it is probably Lottie’s strongest performance on this album with a soulfulness to her voice that reminded me of Lisa Stansfield. City Lights is about the feeling of dislocation you get from living in another country, clearly referencing her time in Singapore. As culture shock creeps up on you it changes initial excitement to a sense of missing the familiar cues around you that give you that grounded feeling you get from home. Paradoxically, of course, it is the act of moving to such a different environment that gives you the opportunity to change, grow and discover yourself without having to fit in with the preconceptions of those who knew you at home. It is a bittersweet experience that changes everything about you, as Lottie so brilliantly reflects on in this lyrically outstanding song. The final track is Visionary Philosophers which ends a varied album with a song full of sadness that almost tips over into despair as she remembers a lover who she dreams is still hers. This woman was everything that was needed in a relationship but she still left and she can’t understand why. It is a beautiful coda to an exceptional album which ends with Lottie’s playful comment, ‘This song’s short’!

Eve and Eve is a brilliantly crafted pop album that has an LGBTQ+ sensibility that is always clear but never preachy. It is, instead, a fascinating insight into Lottie’s life, loves and thoughts as she reflects on a time of personal and professional upheaval that has led her to an understanding of who she is, or at least the start of that understanding. Lottie is quite simply a massive talent and if there is any justice she should become a star.

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