YOU HAVE to say, rising Essex indie imprint Seven Four Seven Six can count its blessings in enticing emerging Glasgow songwriter Lizzie Reid to its ranks.
She’s announced her debut EP, Cubicle, for the label, which’ll be out on January 22nd; in celebration of which she’s shared a track from it, “Always Lovely” – which actually, it really is.
Lizzie does what they always say you should: she writes about what she knows, and documents love, loss and heartbreak in Glasgow’s day- and nightlife. She’s secured supports with names like the The Staves and Nilüfer Yanya and was on the bill for this year’s Great Escape before, y’know … it.
“Always Lovely” is recorded right up close, breathy like a lover’s whisper; it reminds me of the dynamic of Cian Marshall’s Cat Power, mid-period. She’s right there with you on this.
It’s a languid confessional in the second person, every honeyed grain of Lizzie’s voice, every squeak of those strings, falling into your ears with beautifully captured fidelity.
Lizzie says of “Always Lovely”: “This song is about insecurity. Feeling like you’re not quite up to it.
“It’s about obsessing with the idea of perfection and worth – whether that be about your physical appearance, your personality or social identity.”
Cubicle was recorded in March just days before lockdown one bit. With the daily figures mounting, producer Oli Barton-Wood packed a case of microphones, leads and equipment and travelled to Lizzie in Glasgow to lay down the tracks.
“It is really important to me that I got to make something with people I care about and that we created something amazing and genuine,” Lizzie says.
The EP spares little lyrical or melodic punches in recounting a formative and landmark summer: a record deal, the end of Reid’s first same-sex relationship.
The EP will also include the raw prettiness of “Seamless”, an artful detailing of the raking of the ashes of lost love, which we took a look at back in October – and of which, she confessed: “I listened to the demo on the train from London to Glasgow. I had tears streaming down my face.
“That was when I realised I had written something deeply personal to me.”
Follow Lizzie on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; YouTube and Spotify and keep your eyes open for pre-order news for her EP.
