Singer-songwriter Lucy Rose tells Tim Hughes why her latest album is unashamedly pop

For someone who made her name playing festivals, it was a heart-sinking moment.

Having travelled up to Scotland for its raucous T in the Park event, Lucy Rose was looking forward to a predictably boisterous show.

So when, after the second song, the enormous tent she was expected to fill remained completely empty, she confesses she could have cried.

“It didn’t start well at all,” she says. “We thought no one wanted to see us, but then realised no one had opened the tent. Eventually they opened the sides and thousands of people came in – which was the most amazing relief!”

She needn’t have worried. Her latest album Work It Out has been one of the hits of the year, entering the Top 10 and heralding a series of storming festival appearances. She now tops that with a UK tour which, on Sunday, reaches the O2 Academy Oxford.

The album is a major departure for the 26-year-old Warwickshire singer-songwriter, whose heartfelt, sparse and beautifully low-fi debut, Like I Used To, was recorded at her parents’ house near Leamington Spa.

In contrast to the paired down acoustic charm of self-released singles Middle of the Bed, Scar and Redface, her latest effort was cut at London’s Snap Studios under the direction of Mumford & Sons producer Rich Cooper, and sees the gently-voiced troubadour branching out and, she says, discovering herself.

The album betrays more than a hint of the exuberance of London indie band Bombay Bicycle Club, for whom she has provided vocals. It is, in short, the sound of Lucy Rose cutting loose and having fun.

Refreshingly it still sees her kicking back in her trademark jeans, trainers and t-shirt. The contrast between with her over-styled contemporaries is obvious.

“I just want my music to do the talking,” she says, chatting to me having just returned home from walking her dog in the park, near her East London home.

“All that image-related stuff is very frustrating,” she goes on. “When it comes to clothes I am not much of a statement-maker, as I wouldn’t want anyone to make a guess at what I am.

“I’ve always been like that. I do like putting on a good show, though and for people to listen.

“After all, the lads in bands don’t seem to dress up!”

Though she quite rightly hates the term ‘tomboy’ she says she loves hanging out with her male friends and enjoys a game of football as much as walking her dog.

“The Women’s World Cup showed it is normal for women to play football. But growing up, women didn’t even watch it, let alone play. I got labelled a tomboy and didn’t like it. It was as if by playing football I became this ‘thing’. I just liked a kick-about.”

Her latest album also turned into a bit of a kick-about, with an extended period of writing, during which songs were passed between Lucy and the label, until the finished product was exactly right. The result is unashamedly pop.

“It was inspired by my experience with Bombay Bicycle Club, and going on stage with them for so long,” she says. “They’d play five or six heartfelt slow emotional songs and then get the crowd singing and dancing, and part of me missed that.

“I wanted to get people smiling and dancing. And now I’m in a very happy place and have found love – proper love – for the first time. I’m having the most amazing time of my life and, for the first time, am doing what I have been dreaming of.”

Though, she admits, the new happy Lucy isn’t to everyone’s liking. She explains: “It is all very natural and heartfelt, but I’m not sure how my early fans feel about it. Some want me to be sad and to write songs that can comfort them.” She laughs again. “There is something about writing love songs – but there are lots of other areas I’d also like to experiment with, that I haven’t tried yet.

“Really the only person I need to please is myself. On my third record I won’t be so scared as it doesn’t matter if I’m accepted or not. I have the freedom to be anything I want to be.

“It will always be me, whatever it is.”

GO ALONG
Lucy Rose plays the O2 Academy Oxford on Sunday. Tickets from ticketweb.co.uk