Few artists are managing to blur the line between susceptible songwriting and a strong message. Luvcat makes it sound easy. Her debut album, Vicious Delicious, manages to walk a very fine line. It neither sensationalises nor plays down the troubles and topics at the heart of this electrifying first effort. Heart is easy to come by but it being in the right place for an up-and-coming artist is a different struggle entirely. Vicious Delicious is a confident, self-assured album, and rightly so. Reflections on intimacy and the push away from poor choices is what you can find on Vicious Delicious. Further on from that, and what is so crucial to this album’s success, is Luvcat’s vocal work. A series of meaningful comments on the dangers of some intimate take on life are only as good as the singer at the core of it. Luvcat is a phenomenal guide through this series of moving tracks.
Pair those reflections and strong vocal works with an instrumental flourish which is both familiar but filled with unique twists and turns, and you have on your hands a gem of an album. Those vintage stylings of walking through rooms with chandelier fixtures and the floating, dreamy style Luvcat brings to Alien brings on a clear tone from its title suggestions. Smart enough to nod that beam me up feeling some may feel when in awkward social interactions, the alienation of people from one another is what Luvcat nails here. Vicious Delicious is filled with moments which follow the formula of lighter pop, but the tougher lyrical suggestions highlight just how strong a voice Luvcat is. Those unique standouts are more important now than ever, and the danceable charms matched with the invasive thoughts that threaten to derail the day. Matador brings about that feeling well, the want and lust tempered by a realism which affects few pop-adjacent acts today.
But it should. There is strength in the everyday which Luvcat has tapped into brilliantly. There are some vaudeville thrills at the core of songs like Dinner @ Brasserie Zédel, the playful lyrics and Luvcat toying with emotional complexities, backed by brass pieces bringing out the best in her writing. It’s a magnificent early set of songs and it gets much better with the tracks to follow. It’s as fleshed out as you would want from an album by an artist with years of experience, let alone a studio debut. Crashing, brilliant moments on He’s My Man is the best example of what Luvcat offers. Balancing those instrumental booms is crucial, and the softer touch of slower instrumentals on the title track are a great example of finding that balance between roaring defiance on contemplating what you want. More literal takes on Spider are a nice counter to the effective soft surrealism affecting the very best of Vicious Delicious.
Balance is crucial and that’s what Luvcat offers here. Confident, quality pieces of work which cement Luvcat as a name not just to take note of, but to surely see in the headline slot of whatever festival is popular these days. Truck Festival? No. Whatever the case, Luvcat has all the spirit and lyrical charm needed to separate herself from what is already out there. There’s a spontaneous feeling to Vicious Delicious in the conversational tone Luvcat provides. Bad Books has a wild and searching appeal to it paired with instrumentals equally keen to bring about big ideas, bigger hopes. It’s that cautious hope embedded in each song, either for the other person to overcome their clear troubles or for the protagonist to get to grips with their own shortcomings. Either way they need to be conquered and what better way to do it than with Vicious Delicious? As charming as it is confident, and that’s a fine line few are capable of walking.
