Lucy Isabel - All The Light (2024)

This is Lucy’s 2nd full-length LP & leans more toward a folk identity. The material is introspective & explores fears & letting them go. It’s taken Lucy 5 years to follow her debut & since then her life has undergone many changes & those changes played a role in her new music.

The New Jersey-born Lucy Isabel (vocals/bgv) was married, had a child, lost her father, is older & things like that will affect & reprioritize one’s life. And these subjects will slip into an artist’s songs. The 10 originals were produced by Jared Anderson (acoustic & electric guitar/electric bass/piano/percussion) for All The Light & recorded in Nashville & Mt. Juliet, TN.

Lucy’s voice has a rosy vocal vibrance. It has its folky elements but not so much a Joan Baez or Joni Mitchell. She has a more contemporary sound – a Beth Nielsen Chapman, Mary Chapin-Carpenter, or Alison Moorer. A delightfulness rings in her high register & her approach is mature & sophisticated.

When I took singing lessons decades ago, I learned one true lesson. I was told to smile when I sang & it would translate through the lyrics. And it did. On tape, I sounded more friendly, confident & far away from monotone. The secret to a fine performance is as simple as a smile. My point? In almost every picture of Lucy Isabel, she smiles as if it’s second nature. I’m sure she smiles when she sings more than most — because in “Best Efforts,” it certainly sounds like she did.

Lucy has matured with this showcase. The songs are personal but not quite confessional. She has some lightly punctuated arrangements applied to her songs that help to keep them interesting.

With “Where It Lies,” driven by piano she reminds me of the late folk singers Mimi Farina (vocally) & especially Judee Sill (who explored her beautiful songs with poignancy on “The Kiss,” & the classic “Jesus Was a Crossmaker”). Without sounding critical Lucy shows just the tip of her creativity & the majority is still below the surface. Waiting.