If Florence Welch and Katy Perry had a beautiful, brunette love child, she would be London’s own Louisa Rose Allen, AKA Foxes. The 22-year-old’s pop songs have the drama of the former, and the tone of her voice coupled with its perfectly timed breaks have the latter written all over them. Plus, her four-track EP is a mix of two radio-ready Perry-esque songs and a couple of melodramatic tunes more appropriate for listening to with your headphones on at home.
Her vocal promise manifests on the third track, a demo called “Let Go For Tonight”, which could have easily slipped on Florence’s Lungs. The uptempo track takes Allen on a piano-driven, sexy jaunt through a late-night hookup as she sings, “Let go for tonight baby/ Who needs sleep tonight?”. Lyrically, the EP is a bit all over the place (whether or not she goes for more of a theme on her full-length will be revealed in time). On “White Coats”, she sings, “As a child, my mother said to me, don’t be afraid to live the way you see/ It’s only you and nobody else can see,” which makes it feel like the kid sister of Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way”, but in a good way. That track also finds Foxes with the most interesting instrumentals, as a simple drum machine and snap/clap combo builds into a delicious poppy chorus that leaves the listener clapping along, followed by some intriguing effects contrasting with a simple piano.
Any doubt about the level of Allen’s talents are shattered on the final track, a live, acoustic version of album opener “Warrior”. With a piano, harp, and an acoustic guitar accompanying her, Foxes sounds less like a future product of the Top-40 rotation, and more like someone you could see playing a small stage at a festival. The two demos are much more enjoyable than the over-produced songs, which suggests hope for a more stripped down full-length affair in the future. This is a strong EP, and given her thousands of plays on the Internet, all this English darling needs to do now is fight for a seat at the proverbial (and highly competitive) lunch table of pop.
Essential Tracks: “Let Go For Tonight”
