The song 'Anyone Who Had A Heart' by Burt Bacharach and Hal David could serve as the ideal template for Lucky Soul. Originally recorded by Dionne Warwick in 1963, this classic song has been covered many times by the likes of Petula Clark, Cilla Black, Shirley Bassey and Dusty Springfield.
It is my guess that Lucky Soul's song writer Andrew Laidlaw has heard most, if not all, of these versions and absorbed the way the hurt and desperation of love has been so effortlessly translated in a three minute slice of affirmative pop.
His own songs contain the same themes and are heavily informed by Sixties pop in general, and Motown in particular. This is evidenced by the fragile female vocals, prominent orchestral arrangements (courtesy of The Stockholm Strings)and the fact that none of his twelve tales of heartbreak exceeds four minutes.
A Coming Of Age is the South London band's second album, the follow up to the warmly regarded The Great Unwanted. The title is explained as "the moment in your life when you lose your innocence and go from childhood to adolescence or from adolescence to the next stage".
With shades of Brian Wilson (in his dreams!), Laidlaw has also produced the album and it is perhaps not entirely coincidental that the closing track (Could Be I Don't Belong Anywhere) has a title with echoes of The Beach Boy's I Just Wasn't Made For These Times.
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Singer Ali Howard replied to a wanted ad for the band and was picked both because she has both the right look and sound. Her voice hasn't got much of a range and at times is a little too twee but is pitch perfect for the catchy pop that characterises the trio of cracking tunes that open the record (Woah Billy!, White Russian Doll and Up In Flames). The third of these is my personal favourite with an addictive hook and brilliant lyrics like "Without a fire I'm dormant, give me a lover and a packet of matches". It is this type of intelligent and witty song writing that raises the the level of the album as a whole above that of being just another nostalgia trip.
This is the sound of a band who have found their voice and can deliver the type of tunes that really get under your skin. If Britain should ever have a long hot Summer, this would be the perfect soundtrack.
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