Lonelady: Hinterland

Julie Campbell aka LoneLady has rooted her music in the dark leaden skies of the industrial landscape of her native Manchester. The mist and vapour of belching chimneys over ruinous, skeletal structures is reflected in her compositions. Her music is a perfect blending of the old and the new, taking the post-punk new wave of the late 70’s and early 80’s and combining it with contemporary intelligent electronica.

2015’s Hinterland was one of the standout albums of the year, replete with rich imagery and dystopian visons. Opening track ‘Into The Cave’ is a dark and funky number. This is the welcoming gesture and an assurance that what you are about to receive is silk-lined electro-funk.

Her voice is sparse and vulnerable yet she dominates the music with an aura of confidence and authority. She works amongst the deft production and atmospherics that provide the layers for her to drive the album; creating songs that filter Wire, Joy Division and A Certain Ratio to create a funk-fused new wave that grooves.

Stand out tracks are ‘Bunkerpop’, ‘Groove It Out’ and title track ‘Hinterland’; songs of urban decay, alienation and dystopia. These are concrete jacketed Ballardian visions. ‘Groove It Out’ is a funk-driven, post punk song delivered as if channelled through Stevie Wonder and Prince. It grooves. These are icily cool melodies warmed up and dressed with funk bass, analogue synths and jagged, strumming guitar.

LoneLady shimmers with talent and her singular vision is as literate as any counter-culture novel of the last 50 years.