Liverpool Sound and Vision 8.5/10
Liverpool doesn’t have the same access to the late great Victorian/Edwardian music halls that London has, but it is possible as the listener takes in the debut album from Luvcat, the vaudeville like demonstration of power and feverish exoticism that exists in worlds perhaps that linger more in the imagination, of old romantic theatres that were found in the East End of London as they were shrouded by mists, legends, and attitudes of the playful and the vaguely disconcerting; this is where
The songs from Vicious Delicious reign supreme, they act with drama, they weave themselves into the narrative as though penned by the bold and the effortlessly scandalous, and Luvcat, known otherwise as Sophie Morgan Howarth, places herself in august company, as the theatrical stance and graceful imagery of her lyrics take hold, as they play with modern thoughts in pop overtones, what is abundant is a joyful reminder of how music has transcended time whilst remaining positive with big personalities.
Across tracks such as Lipstick, Dinner @ Brasserie Zédel, Love & Money, Emma Dilemma, the sense of local persuasion leaving its mark in The Kazimier Garden, Alien, and Blushing, the album reaches out for constant crescendos and applies its iconic touch to the complexities of inner darkness fused with beauty of escapism; murder ballads, sex-tape serenades, the prowling mists of extortion and damnation given a glimpse of gothic humanity in its upbeat arc.
The Liverpool born performer has taken the plunge and showcases her vivid inner music beast, nit one for the whimpering deliberation, this is a woman who has greeted the eclectic Muse and mediated from a position of strength to push her own agenda, her own moves, to lay down a statement, not of intent, but committed, engaged, and directed provocation.
Vicious Delicious is the personification of the music hall performer ahead of their time, willing to be risqué, to delve into a world of human addiction to suggestive melancholia; to touch upon the excitedly shy, and witness romance as it prowls the streets with a smile and a glint in the eye.
A great debut from a woman unafraid to express time as an emotion, and desire as a living, breathing creature in its own right.
Ian D. Hall