'Solitarty Girl EP' - Amy Leeder
Reviewed by Martin Stapleton
Solitary Girl is the debut EP from Amy Leeder without the draping texture of the Integrals. This EP is both thought provoking and a thing of hushed, disorienting, beauty. Her cute lyrical nuggets prick your consciousness. They soothe and are yet haunt at the same time.The three songs are all peas from the same pod as they tell of relationship heartache.
Title track 'Solitary Girl' opens. In this ballad Amy expresses herself in almost trademark poetic manner. Young of years,she puts forward her philosophy of life in an accessable and universal way. This bewitching teenager continues with 'Rough Around the Edges'. It's her tale and ultimate put down to two-timing guys. With real feeling she sings "Is it a dream, I think I'm falling, Is it a sign or is it a warning?"
More so when 'Rough around the Edges' is always having 'One too Many Bevereges'. Her fragile yet gritty acoustic fare covers all emotional bases. There is more of the same with last track,'Apprehensive'. "I guess it's over now", Amy plaintively cries, so stark but yet eerily magnetic. Even when she is seething, it's done in a nice way. As long as we've been treated to Amy's musical work, her urge to frolic with new ideas has to be commended. No idle resting on her laurels, with a youthful coo, it's the combined use of the lyrics that are always foremost in the entertainment, infact very much the sole objective.
What is evident in all of Amy's songs is that her own personality shines through. Using 'Folk' as a very loose musical template, her material seems to shoot off in all manner of directions. Amy's cheeky reaction at the end of 'Apprehensive' perhaps is an indication that she is having the last laugh at the fictitious (or not) characters that she sings of.
This excellent sounding C.D was recorded 'LIVE' with no overdubs by Caz Adcock at the 'Coach House'.