Luvcat comes in with a late entry for Album Of The Year.

Release Date: 31st October 2025

Label: AWAL

Format: digital / CD / LP

Rebirth

Luvcat is the pop-rock chrysalis rebirth of the once-folkier Sophie Morgan Howarth. This transformation is a definitive glow up for the Liverpudlian artist, who releases her freshman album, Vicious Delicious, at a time when lusty, angst-driven female singers are producing albums of real significance. Yet, Luvcat manages to carve out a space to avoid sinking into the plethora.

Easy comparisons to Billie Eilish are unavoidable; the languid, smoky voice, pitched just above the backing harmony and thick bass, is a signature sound of modern dark pop-rock. To give Luvcat fair account, however, there are also strong rock legacy influences, with production and vocal nods to Patti Smith, Karen O, and Debbie Harry. This is an illustrious list, and this debut offering strives to match it.

Big Band and Bold Brass

Vicious Delicious delivers some big, bold, standout tracks within its 13-song run. Matador is arguably the biggest and boldest. Backed by a powerful big-band sound and crisp layers of percussion, this tale of toxic love is instantly resonant and deserves considerable traction. It’s a brave statement track that lands well in the opening side of the album. Of similar note, He’s My Man is a Wolf Alice-esque stroll through further tales of complicated love, a narrative of lust and murder that makes the Halloween release date no accident. Here, the subtle production behind the vocal expertly builds and falls away, culminating in a Bond-style finish. This curated production hints at a very exciting trajectory as Luvcat inevitably begins to experiment with style and sound.

The polaroid snapshots of lost love on the streets and in the bars of the UK are a repeated theme. Luvcat navigates the rich production of big sound and deep bass with her sultry lyrics with both ease and purpose. The album’s opener, Lipstick, immediately showcases her ability to back up big sound with cutting lyrics and a soaring vocal: “Come kiss off all my lipstick,” is the opening demand—an unapologetic indication that there will be no holding back. This is a brave debut album that straddles pop, rock and jazz. The outcome of that intoxicating mix are tracks like Blushing which features a thrilling guitar solo and a building pre-chorus that crests to a crescendo, regaling the life of a young woman manoeuvring through Northern England.

Razor-Sharp Narrative and Gothic Wit

In some of the deeper moments, Luvcat uses her voice and softer arrangements to create brushstroke images of everyday life. Laurie narrates the difficulties of courage in love: “What if he, suddenly, gets run over, before I get over myself.” There are sharp observations in Love & Money, which captures societal trends through the lens of a twenty-something, while the unsettling Dinner @ Brasserie Zédel saunters with surreptitious cigarette smoke and a hint of prestige.

Luvcat clearly enjoys an edge to the instrumentalism, finding suitable backing for the razor-sharp ends of her narratives: “…tell you terrible things by candlelight, whilst the table next to us choke on their bread.” Right through to the album’s close, Bad Books, Luvcat maintains a sneering, sultry edge to her writing: “Crucifix above my bed, it hasn’t mattered yet.” When mixed with those big sounds, a generous dose of reverb, and the multi-layered production of brass and piano, it creates an intoxicating soundscape.

Unavoidable comparisons

The album’s title track, Vicious Delicious, features sumptuous strings and a subtly melodic lead guitar. It successfully pairs a pop tempo with the darker shades of songwriting and haunting arrangements—a sound difficult to perfect, yet well executed. The unavoidable comparisons to Billie Eilish here are no bad thing.

The twisting laments of dark pop are most prominent in Alien, with its modest dance floor appeal and more vulnerable storytelling. This mix of emotional exposure and lyrics that cut through with a sharp thrust maintains the album’s allure. There’s a morbid wit in the carnival-dystopia of Spider, where she sings about the insecurities of relationship complexities: “She looks down but doesn’t think twice, it’s probably just the office…” Emma Dilemma once again navigates the Machiavellian manner of infidelity, but in Luvcat’s candid, sharp style: “Milkman, you’re not so safe, she’ll pour you in the morning, all over her cornflakes.” Such lyrical intentionality points to an artist ascending toward the peak of artistic output.

A Late Entry for Album of the Year?

Sophie Morgan Howarth has allowed Luvcat to burst to the fore. The writing here is sharp, evocative, and, most importantly, relevant. One of the most exciting aspects of this work is the suggestion that there is still room to grow and space to develop the dark-pop sound that has gained widespread popularity.

The comparisons will be vast and unavoidable, covering an array of global superstars. For many, this might feel overwhelming, but there’s an unapologetic daring to this album. Its dark themes and Hitchcockian narratives suggest an artist who has further ground to develop and an ability to manipulate any moment into an alluring Winehouse-style tale. Yet, despite the confidence, there’s an aching vulnerability upon which the big sound is not lost.

Records like this, so genuine and considered, linger. It is a late entry for discussions for Album Of The Year, and I say that without reservation.

Vicious Delicious is out now via AWAL Records, with tour dates across the UK, EU, and US throughout November and December. Here’s the title track:

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