6th November 2023
Listen
Picture the scene; it’s a cold, rainy night in the back streets of the Baltic Triangle and I’m wandering around nameless warehouses trying to find the gig venue. Just as I’m beginning to really understand why Liverpool was used as the set for the Matt Reeves directed ‘The Batman’, I find the place. Once inside and sufficiently warmed up I head to the bar.
Lydia Reece began her solo project in November 2023 after years of songwriting. Since then, BBC Introducing Northwest have played her music multiple times, while she has been cultivating her live experience by playing gigs all across Liverpool.
Before I could begin enjoying the music, I had to put my socks back on again; they’d been blown well and truly off by the £6.20 I’d paid for a pint of frankly bang average pale ale. I get told I whinge too much, but I feel this particular one is valid. But, as D:Ream and Tony Blair’s New Labour government famously trotted out, things could only get better.
As luck would have it, I’d seen the artist in question perform before in our very own Tung Auditorium back in February, as part of their Lunchtime Concert Series. I enjoyed it so much that after the concert, I bought a CD and plucked up the courage to ask Reece to sign it (which she kindly did). I’m now hoping she gains worldwide fame, so that I can of course say ‘I saw her before she was big!’ like all the people who somehow saw Nirvana playing in a crowd of 10 people before they hit the bigtime.
I’d enjoyed that first concert hugely, but then had mostly forgotten about it for the rest of the semester and over summer. One of my friends had found out she was playing a gig just before I was due back home for the Christmas break, and so it seemed rude not to go again. If anything, just to confirm my thoughts that she was as good as I’d thought at the time. Could I have misremembered the first gig in the moment? Was Lydia Reece actually that good?
Well, the short answer is: yes. Yes, she is actually that good.
The set itself lasted around an hour and saw Reece and her ensemble band, who are a dazzling 11 strong group with seemingly every instrument under the sun, performing all the hits off her newly released album ‘Looking Glass’, with a cover or two thrown in for good measure.
From the get go, I realised what had made the first time around so enjoyable and what I believe characterises Reece and her band; their tightness as a live act. Everything seemed to fall perfectly into place; the snap of the snare drum was matched by the driving tone from the bass guitar, while the electric guitarist seemed to dance around the rhythm, creating the sort of melody that just wants to make you move.
Not even the occasional mid-song time signature change could throw them off; like a Wild West cowboy, controlling a raging bull without seemingly breaking a sweat. The accompanying power of three backing singers served to triple the effect of Reece’s own entrancing vocals, creating a power of sound that had me wondering whether a jazz-infused mosh pit was going to break out.
Songs like ‘She Don’t Know’ see Reece’s funk influences explored, with the guitar drawing a mesmerising hook quickly followed up with a rolling beat from the drums. The brass section quickly makes its presence known too, jumping about as the Reece’s vocals dance in a fluidity that can only be compared accurately to the late and great Amy Winehouse.
My favourite song, however, might have to be the album’s title track, ‘Looking Glass’. Here, Reece and the band channel a level of power that the song’s unassumingly quiet intro could not have suggested. Crashing cymbals, a forceful piano line and Reece’s energetic vocals bring a sense of urgency and imperativeness that simply grabs you by the ears and forces you to listen.
Some of her known influences include artists like Lauryn Hill and some similarities between the two can be etched out through their vocal styles; both deeply personal, seemingly bending their voice around the lyrics in order to burn out every bit of emotion that lies there. The painful memories of my world-endingly expensive pint were vanquished from my mind in a brilliant haze; there wasn’t any way you couldn’t give the band 100% of your attention.
Rising artists like Reece, who have jazz and soul influences at the core of their musical styles, are not an entirely new phenomenon. For a few years now, jazz and soul music has been inspiring new and upcoming artists to push their boat out, creatively speaking. Undoubtedly thanks in part to the rise in streaming platforms which allow people to explore every corner of the world of music to their hearts content, a rise in the interest in such music has occurred. Other artists like Berlioz, Little Simz and Clairo have all benefitted hugely from looking to past musical styles to create new, unique takes. From combining jazz and house, to rap, to 70’s flavoured R&B grooves, more and more artists are looking to genres like jazz, soul and R&B as a way of creating a style distinct from the radio-pop that dominates the charts.
For some, it works wonderfully, and I am fully confident that Lydia Reece is one of those for whom it has worked, big time. This lowly music reviewer believes it’s not long until Reece and her band will be selling out gigs all across the country and further.
Reece and her band demonstrate the truth behind the mantra ‘Practise makes perfect’ as they seemingly knew every inch of their songs, bashing out hit after hit with impunity. All in all, I had a quality evening spent watching local, live music in a great venue with friends. What more could anyone want?
Check out Lydia Reece on Spotify
For more on Music click here
All images belong to Lewis Webb.