Former Things (Gatefold LP)

Julie Campbell, aka LoneLady, is a singer/guitarist from Manchester. Inspired by post-punk Julie first started making recordings in the early to mid 2000s on a 4-track cassette recorder in her tower block flat.

LoneLady's third studio album Former Things is a tour-de-force of punch and crunch electropop and RnB, shot through with mournful eulogies to the lost golden age of childhood and youth - a record equally driven by dancefloor energy as by pop sensibility.

Former Things was written, performed and recorded entirely by LoneLady. Whereas previous albums at least allowed the appearance of another human, the soundworld of Former Things was crafted by LoneLady.

The acerbic, taut skronk of Campbell's Telecaster still scrapes Former Things with embellishments of no-wave sensibilities, but a new-found fascination with drum machines, hardware and synthesisers opens a whole new realm of possibility for the musician.

Former Things boldly updates the forgotten sonics of 1980s art pop, and LoneLady shows exactly how to make them sound brand new again.

"I was hungry for a change of scene. Born and bred in Manchester, my home city is like walking around a giant living diary, an archeology of myself, layered with memories. Following meetings with Somerset House Studios Director Marie McPartlin, in June 2016 I moved from Manchester to London to become a Studio member. I set up a new studio in 'The Rifle Range', an 18th-Century Naval shooting gallery. In this long, narrow concrete room I set up my studio to be part art-installation, part nightclub where I could turn the volume up loud and project Cabaret Voltaire super-8 videos and Ingmar Bergman films across the stone walls. I was located at the dramatic heart of it all, not far from Trafalgar Square and Buckingham Palace - quite a change from my previous studios nestled in the crumbling darklands of Manchester's outskirts."
- Julie Campbell