Låpsley – Cautionary Tales of Youth
A nourishing balm of self-acceptance, Låpsley's latest album is a full-throttled call to open up to vulnerability instead of shutting yourself off
Låpsley has been making and releasing music for close to a decade now. Cautionary Tales of Youth, her third studio effort, comes after 2020’s Through Water, and 2016’s Long Way Home, which contained the transfixing gem Station, one of her most popular tracks to date. On Cautionary Tales, shameless self-expression and joy are the focal point on a record that sees her experiment with sounds that shift between Afrobeat, garage, and shimmering electro-pop.
Cautionary Tales of Youth launches with 32 Floors, which sounds like a runner’s high, caught, and injected into a song. The heart-wide-open ode to surrendering yourself to love sees skittering synths and a thundering bass accompanying eye-catching lyrics such as 'I freefall down these 32 floors, and I land in your arms, that’s trust'. Dial Two Seven, a highlight, starts off sounding like stepping onto a balcony on a summer morning and feeling the sun on your face. By the time the catchy chorus hits, it’s not hard to imagine yourself clinking glasses and dancing on a beach somewhere close to the equator.
A nourishing balm of self-acceptance, Cautionary Tales of Youth is a full-throttled call to open up to vulnerability instead of shutting yourself off. It’s a recipe for living better that’s evidently worked; on the rousing Hotel Corridors, she sings: 'I’m feeling good and I’m hopeful, I’m looking in and my soul’s full'.
Listen to: Dial Two Seven, 32 Floors, Paradise