LP
Forever for Now
(Warner Bros. Records)

When I saw LP open for Kodaline earlier this year, I was enchanted. This petite woman was armed with only a ukulele and a couple of band members, but she managed to completely enrapture the sold-out crowd at Webster Hall. Fast forward a few months, and I’m eager to listen to her first album in a decade.

Unfortunately, Forever for Now comes across like a major label trying to craft a talented artist into another radio-friendly pop star. Like Sia, LP has spent much of her career writing for pop greats like Rihanna and Christina Aguilera. She knows her way around a pen, and her booming voice combines the sounds of Tegan and Sara with the might of Florence + the Machine. But producer/label boss Rob Cavallo has added way too many perfectly polished layers on these songs to showcase LP’s raw vocal delivery. The result feels like 12 songs all crafted to be lead singles.

LP started to assume the spotlight in her own right when “Into the Wild” was featured in a Citibank commercial. The track is a storming burst of energy and independence, and I can’t help but feel like Cavallo wanted most of the songs to mimic the quiet and then shouting style of the song that broke LP into the mainstream.

There’s certainly nothing bad about the tracks on Forever for Now. Many just don’t feel special. “Tokyo Sunset” manages to stand out with LP’s powerful voice noodling in a way that evokes classical Japanese music. “Forever for Now” is also a striking song with its spaghetti Western-like whistling and subdued sound. Here you get the sense that this is a song by an accomplished singer/songwriter who can also play instruments. If you want to get to know LP, start here. Better yet, just go see her live and buy merch to support her.