Lucy Rose has an inquisitive mind.
Perhaps best known for her folk-fringed acoustic gems, the songwriter also has a pop flair. Throw in some backing vocal stints alongside an array of artists, including Ghostpoet, and you have a talent which is willing to push herself further and further.
New single 'Like An Arrow' is out now, and with this in mind Clash invited Lucy Rose to take a gander at the week's releases.
Here are her thoughts...
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Foxes - 'Body Talk'
I grew up listening to pop music, I wasn't one of those cool kids who's parents directed them into loving Tom Waits early on. I know that I would have been singing this song at full blast with my sisters driving into school. I've heard lots of great things about Foxes and I love the tone of her voice. A great pop song!
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Jax Jones - 'Yeah Yeah Yeah'
This sounds like something that would be blasted at one of those beach parties in Marbella. The video is pretty perfect for the song, very brave kids in prams attached to skateboards with beautiful people doing tricks on them. Its a little repetitive at times but a well crafted dance track, with a good mix of electronic and real instruments. String parts are a little reminiscent of Clean Bandit.
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Sigma ft. Ella Henderson - 'Glitterball'
Ella Henderson has a seriously powerful and amazing voice. There's few artists out there with a voice as good as hers and this song perfectly shows that. It's got the classic drum 'n' bass feel similar to a couple Rudimental songs, but overall it's hard to be negative about this song, strong verses and middle eight and a great chorus which makes you want to sing!
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Taio Cruz - 'Do What You Like'
There's lots I do like about this song but a couple of the lyrics kind of ruin it for me. The lyric into the chorus is 'Get up off that sexy round thing...' and in verse one 'Got me feeling like a horny devil...'. I guess it's good he's being so honest but do we really need to know that he's horny? On the plus, it's a fun upbeat, summery song and I'm digging the retro 80's sounds - very George Michael.
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Vanessa Carlton - 'Blue Pool'
I haven't heard much from Vanessa Carlton since her massive hit 'A Thousand Miles' back in 2002 and this is quite a departure from that. I didn't know what to expect but it's a really beautiful song. The verses have a real traditional folk sound to the melodies but then an electric guitar comes in which has a Coldplay feel to it. Halfway through you hear the piano arpeggios which are one of her trademarks. Takes you to a whole other world.
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Will Young - 'Thank You'
This song took me a few listens to get my head around, as it's musically quite complex and it's a great pop music disguised in complete originality. There is so much I love about this song, parts have a Beatles, Primal Scream feel but it's also definitely Will Young; his voice is unique. Lyrically it's also complex, it sounds like he's thanking someone for breaking his heart. I have no idea how the female singer on the track reached some of those notes, but it's all very heart felt, sincere and honest.
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Lucy Rose's new single 'Like An Arrow' is out now.
Photo Credit: Daniel Alexander Harris