London – British singer-songwriter Lail Arad has waited quite a while to deliver a follow-up to her 2011 debut Someone New, but the aptly titled The Onion largely shows much merit, with her outwardly patient approach to writing and recording. Though the artiste is London born and based, there is very much a cosmopolitan – and at times continental – feel to this record. Arad’s stylised vocals, with sultry sing-speak passages and modulating licks, are equally suggestive of the Mediterranean and the metropolis.
The mood is established with French references in the opening track, “Milo.” Leaving aside some faintly irritating rhyme-by-numbers lines, it’s a tongue in cheek take on missing someone dear to you. The gently rolling “Pickled Love” is a metaphorical tale of regret, but it’s told so intimately and effortlessly that you feel irresistibly drawn into Arad’s world. The song is as comfortable as it is revealing, making it one of the strongest cards in this particular suit. In contrast, Arad gets angry on “Lay Down.” This song could almost be from the pen of Courtney Barnett, and Arad’s vocals even sail pretty close to the Australian’s wind. That said, it’s a wonderfully acerbic song bristling with rhetorical put-down lines – “Why was I so ready to lay myself bare for you / every thought to share with you / correlate and care for you” – leading to a killer denouement: “Your protective mother told me not to bother / your prospective lover warned me not to go there.”
The album is littered with witty and often wry commentary on life’s little twists and turns; insights that perhaps arrive with maturity and were painful, yet healing. Whether the spotlight is on the uncertainty of youth in “When We Grow Up” or the insecurity of love in “My Love,” The Onion is always a record that wears an ironic smile on its face. Musically, Lail Arad opts for a clean uncluttered approach, mixing rockabilly guitar, bass and drums, on say the breezy “Whirlybird,” while she settles on more stripped back guitar and gentle percussion accompaniments with other tracks. Though several songs deal with aging, “1934 (A Song For Leonard Cohen)” sees Arad actually wishing she was born much earlier. Self-deprecating in tone, the song has her imagining herself as Cohen’s lover – a self-confessed short term assignment – and then muse. It has some of her most memorable lines on the record: “Just when I’d feel like I’d arrived, you’d say you have to leave / I’d be left looking at myself on your record sleeve.”
The title track makes for a fitting conclusion to a carefully crafted and nicely presented song cycle. Lail Arad’s approach to her songs is to look inwardly and project outwardly, while always dressing them in deceptively simple but engaging accompaniments. The formula clearly works.
The Onion is out now. Check Lail Arad on Facebook for details of a new tour coming soon. Meanwhile she will be appearing at Chat’s Palace, London on 17th May.
Tony Hardy
Tony’s great passion in life is music and nothing gives him more pleasure than unearthing good, original new music and championing independent musicians. His association with Best New Bands brings great opportunities for this. He also writes for Consequence of Sound and is a judge for Glastonbury Festival’s Emerging Talent Competition.
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