At just 18 years of age, Holly Lapsley Fletcher, better known as Låpsley, has become a rising talent in the music scene leading to her recent signing to XL Recordings, the company that has brought us the likes of The xx and FKA Twigs.
The Liverpool-born artist was put on the map in April of last year having been named ‘One To Watch’ at Merseyside’s GIT (Get Into This) Awards following over half a million listens to her self-produced, bedroom-recorded Monday EP on Soundcloud. The four-track EP is a perfect representation of the artist’s sound and aura with its progressive electronic layers and harmonies.
Since then, Låpsley has picked up a wealth of support from Radio 1 with DJs Huw Stephens, Zane Lowe and Annie Mac, leading to her second ever gig: Glastonbury 2014. Fletcher played a short set on the BBC Introducing Stage at the Worthy Farm festival showcasing her vocal talent as she sings over her wonderfully produced melodies with what seems to be a male vocalist. Låpsley is truly unique in this sense: essentially, she duets with herself as she pitch-shifts her own voice to create a magical vocal complementation.
In October 2014, Låpsley took a big step in her musical career and signed a deal to XL Recordings, as well as revealing details of her next EP. Understudy EP was released 5th January and sees the same talent radiate through just four songs. Promoting the new album, Låpsley performed a stunning set for BBC Introducing at Maida Vale studios late last year. Watch her perform ‘8896’, one of the tracks from Understudy here.
With her perfectly haunting harmonies, mellow electronica and minimal yet human lyrics, Låpsley is a unique artist that will, no doubt, be more prominent on the music scene this year, and will hopefully be making a few festival appearances too.
