Lucy, Racquel & me

So here we are:
One third is from Australia, Lucy, lyrics
One third is form California, Racquel, vocals
One third is from France, Me, composer
all artwork are from Lejla, Bosnia-Herzegovina
Internet is our world. Together we create catchy pop/folk songs under the name Lucy, Racquel and me, our first album is out and it needs you to be heard.
Social links: Facebook, soundcloud, The album in streaming: soundcloud.com, to download: goo.gl, the artwork and of course, on Itunes, Deezer, Spotify ... n this evening’s edition of the Independent Spotlight, we shine our gaze on a rather peculiar, but immensely fascinating act. They’re called Lucy, Racquel and Me.
As the name alludes to, they are a three piece creative effort. They haven’t ever met, however, and their collaboration is conducted entirely through the internet.
This has become somewhat more common in recent years in the independent music scene, but it’s not often you see an outfit as coherently constructed in this fashion as Lucy, Racquel and Me. Let’s explore their new self-titled debut album and discern whether or not they’re worth adding to your music collection.
To provide some context, Lucy is a lyricist from Canberra, Australia. She wrote or co-write most of the songs on the album. Racquel is a vocalist from California who performs said duty throughout the whole album. Finally, ‘Me’ is the composer, who resides in France. To be entirely honest, I’m still not entirely sure who ‘Me’ is - the final third of the puzzle isn’t as directly credited as the previous two. To be fair, though, the name of the band also does this - the third and final person isn’t named, but Lucy and Racquel are. Again, all of this concretes the impressiveness of these three being able to craft any sort ‘complete’ sound across vast distances.
The new album, which was released a week ago, is eleven songs long. Thus, it’s quite a lengthy endeavor, all of which can be streamed on Sound Cloud now.
The music takes a cue from the Beatles and Paul McCartney in style, something that works for it nicely. (Technically, all music takes a cue from the Beatles, but Lucy, Racquel and Me are clearly very directly inspired.) Hence, the album is mostly soft rock tinged with pop sensibilities. This makes the album very accessible; I’m sure most music fans will find something to appreciate or at least hum along to this album.
The opening of the record is ‘Hello Sunday,’ a track where Racquel harmonizes with some overdubs of herself to wonderful effect. It’s easy riding, smooth to listen to, and very well produced, setting an excellent tone for the album. The song’s lyrics lack some depth, but if we’re being honest, so did a lot of the early Beatles catalog. It’s a song designed to make the listener feel good. It does that very well.
‘Children In Bare Feet’ follows ‘Hello Sunday’ with an intriguing contrast. The lyrics of this song are actually quite beautiful and offer a bit of depth, making it a perfect follow-up to the lovely ‘Hello Sunday.’ The electric guitar solo is particularly good, offering some increased instrumental variation on top of the acousticbased composition. The induction of that guitar also foreshadows ‘One Day,’ a song that ties itself to the instrument for a bluesy romp through passionate love themes that feel surprisingly original. (When you receive dozens of ballads a day like I do, love songs quickly become burdened by the same tropes. I think the exceptional performances on ‘One Day’ keep it from falling victim to that.)
The atmospheric ‘Shattered’ continues the trio’s journey through eclectic sonic experimentations on this album. It’s worth noting how complete and organic these songs feel. Every piece of ‘Shattered’ and its counterparts feels completely authentic, as if everything was recorded in the same studio at once. This is the biggest hurdle a project like this has to overcome, and I think Lucy, Racquel and Me have mastered it surprisingly well - perhaps better than any other group I’ve seen attempt this.
‘Untraceably Gone’ is definitely a bit odd to listen to this time of year - this is definitely a winter song both in content and in spirit. It sounds like it’s off a Christmas record, which does make it feel a bit out of place after four tracks that don’t even step in that kind of direction. On the flip side, though, it’s a really stunningly performed song that does do an apt job at showing the trio’s prowess can go in a very different direction. I think Lucy, Racquel, and Me could tackle a variety of genres to great success.
‘Love Now’ is another love ballad, one that takes a page out of the ‘All You Need Is Love’ songbook. It’s probably the most bubblegum song of the collection, but it isn’t without its merit, especially when followed by the fiercely independent ‘Gone Baby Gone.’ The two accentuate each other nicely. In some ways, these songs seem to catalog the downfall of a relationship. ‘Love Now’ is the beginning, and songs like ‘What Did We Do Wrong?’ definitely denote the end. ‘All True,’ however, may be the best of those more melancholy break-up songs. Racquel’s performance is absolutely fantastic.
‘Coffee Queen’ is a very loveable track, as is ‘Silence For Beginners.’ The former is very folksy and coffee-shop, and the latter is doused in contemporary jazz influence. Now, these are great songs. Their placement, however, is awkward. ‘All True’ has a haunting sense of finality to it - a bittersweet resolution of the album’s emotions. Having ‘Coffee Queen’ follow it doesn’t feel right. ‘Coffee Queen’ and ‘Silence For Beginners’ should be moved earlier into the sequencing, with the album ending with ‘All True.’
I must laud Lucy, Racquel, and Me. I get a lot of music from artists that collaborate over the internet and it very often shows. It doesn’t one bit here, though, and their new album is very much worth listening to. It doesn't at all sound like it was recorded so differently. It’s a splendid journey that makes one eagerly anticipate the next.
Album: Where the moon never sets (2018)
6 Songs with catchy melodies and bewitching voices

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Siracuse

SIRACUSE from Cheltenham UK. Big beat indie psychedelia, drenched in reverb, driving bass lines and distorted guitars. Reminicent of early Oasis, Verve and The Jesus and Mary chain. Echoed vocals twinned with big choruses, and a strong nod to pioneer shoegaze bands.
The band consist of singer and guitarist Ben Zakotti, bassist Matt Jefferies and drummer Will Hall.
The lads sound is big and upfront, it comes to a whole new level when seen live.
Whilst capturing in essence the vital sums of the bands three parts on record, its live on stage and raw, where SIRACUSE really compel and allow you to hear what makes them throttle and climb to their zone. The grooves of Jefferies bass lines, the psych layers of Zakotti’s guitars and casual reversed delays, with Will Halls’ all-out drums and attacking rolls persisting throughout.
The band have gained a surge in support since debut single ‘Become Lights’ was released independently in 2016. Gaining the backing from ‘GigSlutz’ who listed the band as ‘Ones To Watch 2016’ and ‘Scruff Of The Neck Records’ who described the band as ‘atmosphere indie from the South, drawing comparisons as diverse as Kasabian, Editors and Joy Division’ With various radio stations (EGH Radio unsigned, mod radio UK, Kool Rock Radio USA) regularly playing ‘Become Lights’ on their shows, the bands fan base began has begun to flourish.
By the time SIRACUSE had performed their debut gig in their hometown of Cheltenham (Jan 2016 to a near capacity venue), their Soundcloud page had
over 600 plays of Become Lights in just a few days and demos also linked on the page were streaming daily to big numbers. From here the gigs have grown,
opening up for more major supports including shows for The Vryll Society, Reverend and The Makers, Neon Waltz and John Power.
SIRACUSE performed on The BBC Introducing stage at last years Lakefest Official (2017). With a stage time of midnight, and plenty of intrigue circulating, the band still pulled a big crowd nearly filling the tent. This provided the groundwork for SIRACUSE, who are returning to play this years festival again, among others they will also be performing at Dot To Dot Festival 2018 in Bristol, May 25th.
The band are due to release their second single ‘Control’ on 30.4.2018 with accompanying video, independently. This will soon be available to download on iTunes, Spotify, Youtube and Soundcloud.
SIRACUSE have just completed a 4 Track EP which will feature ‘Control’ as lead single due for release mid Summer 2018.

Notes for the artistt: This page will always be here under your name in "Featured Artists". You can always send us an updated Bio using 'CONTACT' on Menu at the top of page..