OK. Since we have a couple of minutes free in our busy schedule, let’s take the opportunity to discuss Lily Frost and her album “Retro-Moderne”. Is this album yet more retro on the make or is she hiding her true intentions under a layer of copious reverb and carefully applied mascara?
On the retro credibility front, Lily Frost throws in a smoky but otherwise vanilla cover of Nancy Sinatra’s “Bang Bang”. In the mascara with attitude stakes, Nancy still rules the roost – as she always will – yet my suspicion is that Lily is just playing with us and is simply demonstrating, by reflection in the time travelling mirror of ambition, that her future isn’t going to be in a wedding band. Her true strengths aren’t hard to find either with the playfully poetic “It’s The Love” being just around the corner on the road to heartwarming bliss. Likewise, her retro stylistic intent may indeed provide the seasoning for “Rock Me Baby” and the really rather lovely “Irresistable” yet it is undeniable that you can hear in her voice the warmth of a singer in love with her songs and she soon captivates your ears. Some might even say this makes her the purveyor of the soundtrack to better times that haven’t even happened yet.
In conclusion, “Retro-Moderne” is an album of proper pop songs that just happen to be disguised as products of the past. This has, of course, been done many times before but it has to be said that Lily Frost does this kind of thing with considerable aplomb and she therefore makes her album much more than mere candy floss for the ears.
Best song? The simply beautiful “It’s The Love”.
The verdict? My ears declare their undying love for Lily Frost.