Search - Lou Rhodes :: Beloved One

From Lamb to folk!

Elan Bodwick | las vegas | 10/19/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Im suprised there was only 1 other review for the former triphop electronica singer from the underrated band lamb. I always loved Lou Rhodes as a singer- her voice has character and a raw sadness- and despite not being a technically great singer- she was always the strength that set Lamb apart from generic triphop based bands throughout the 90s.

Here she leaves behind the drum machines and keyboards for a folk based minimal sound mixing the acoustic guitar with some "real strings" violin cello and some sparse percussion for a great rainy day or Sunday morning comedown record. Some good songwriting heartfelt words and that voice make for a great listen. This was nominated for a Mercury prize in the uk and will prove to be rather timeless- more so than her old band. Guests include members of Portishead and her old cohort in Lamb though this sounds nothing like either band- in actuality very close to The Rustin man project that Portishead singer Beth Gibbons released a few years back. This is traditional english folk music- somber and laidback with no real attempt for the charts- in other words real songs by an artist entering a new phase of her life. Personally i feel this is better than 95% percent of the female singer songwriter stuff thats been released over the last 10 years or so. A keeper and a steal for the used amazon prices."