Lou Mclean – Good Morning Easter Road

Immediately, you can't help but notice how infectious Lou Mclean's voice is: pleasant and warm, the lilting tones have you singing along even when you don't know the words yet. She draws you in with an easy charisma to the way she plays, a quality surely honed through tireless gigging, which is particularly striking on confident, upbeat numbers like Poets & Flatcaps. There's lots of humour here too, especially on the off-beat Bedtime Reading that gets you laughing because of the ironic tension between form and subject matter which is created by Mclean extolling the virtues of a good book in the sultriest of tones.

The lyrical highlights can be found elsewhere, on more melancholic tracks like Empty Cans and Play Dead which meditate unflinchingly upon the pain of struggling relationships, break-ups and heartbreak. The latter is the definite pinnacle of the EP, showcasing a talent for writing catchy hooks with lines like 'Baby I'll just lie here and play dead / and try not to listen to the voices in my head', while also being able to inject some poetic flair with imagery and wordplay. 

After having released such a promising and uplifting EP, it's very easy to get excited about the prospect of a full-length release from Mclean in the near future.

Listen to: Green Shirt, Blue Eyes, Play Dead