It’s not often that I can honestly say that I have experienced a pure pop pleasure and yet I just have. Admittedly the singer with the songs that stole my affections has come all the way from New Zealand but, as was wisdom of times gone by, the world is now as flat as it can culturally be.
That’s not to say that Lisa Crawley’s album “All In My Head” is another retro pastiche although I am sure that many will, after hearing the keyboard led songs like “Elizabeth” in particular, want to liberate their parents’ - or perhaps even their grandparent’s - extensive collection of Lynsey de Paul albums. You might also surmise, as did I, that there is something very English about Ms Crawley’s performance with “Run To”, for example, evoking the fey fragility of Isobel Heyworth while the "What Would I Give" did no less than resurrect the memory of long since lost perfect popsters Lucky Soul. Even the relentless finger snapping grooviness of “Tide Is Low” seemed less an excuse to wear a pretty dress than a reflection on bad decisions and smudged mascara. A bit of emotional depth never goes amiss after all.
However, it’s a charm thing when it comes down to it and Ms Crawley has that aplenty. The sugar coating might well hide the fact that the songs are the work of an artist of commercial ability yet that is surely the point. The sensitive singer songwriter with their acoustic guitar – whether male or female – might well have their their place (and that is a particularly picturesque spot just inside the Arctic circle in my opinion) but people need to be able to sing along with songs before they will actually buy them. For that reason alone, I think that I shall have no problem finding permanent space in my heart for both Ms Crawley and her music.
“All In My Head” is available from Bandcamp.