Romsey singer-songwriter Lucy Kitchen channels Joni, Sandy and others to express personal loss and make a statement of quiet resilience on her third album, In The Low Light.

SHAPED BY PERSONAL LOSS AND QUIET RESILIENCE

Romsey singer-songwriter, Lucy Kitchen is starting to emerge as a regular presence within these pages.  In November, 2025, we were enraptured by her bittersweet song, The Boatman.  Then, only recently, Lucy expressed her long-time admiration for Mazzy Star vocalist, Hope Sandoval, when she graced us with a fascinating Why I Love… feature.

And, now, Lucy’s here again – with a new album that’s very, very special.

In The Low Light is the third Lucy Kitchen album, and it follows her 2014 debut, Waking and her 2017 sophomore offering, Sun to My Moon.  Like those two earlier albums, In The Low Light is released on Lucy’s Own Bohemia Rose Records imprint. 

But, this time around, things have changed.  Written in the wake of her husband, Stephen’s, death in October 2022, In the Low Life marks a deeply personal chapter in Lucy’s life.  Her song’s – shaped by personal loss and a truly admirable measure of quiet resilience – explore themes of loss, grief, memory and transformation.  Yet, within the unavoidable sorrow, there are regular glimpses of joy, gratitude and rediscovery.

REBIRTH THROUGH CREATIVITY

Lucy explains: “A lot of it was written in the run-up to and aftermath of my husband Stepehen’s death from cancer.  Some of these songs began as tiny poems I started writing as a way of capturing thoughts and feelings with no intention or pressure to turn them into songs… but, over time, some of them found their melody.  For me, making this album was actually an incredibly life-affirming, quite joyful experience.  I’m interested in exploring the idea of rebirth through creativity – coming back to ourselves through our art and making something beautiful out of something hard.”

In The Low Light is as deeply personal as its background suggests it should be but, at the same time, I’m filled with admiration at the way Lucy is able to use her experiences to illuminate a path for us all.  These are songs with lessons and examples for everyone.

Lucy’s words are important, here, and the album’s production affords them all the space they need.  That isn’t to say that the sound is sparse – far from it.  Lucy is helped out by Tali Trow, who contributes guitars, banjo, piano, mellotron and backing vocals, Jon Thorne on double bass, Pat Keneally on drums, Michael Davies on pedal steel and Peter Mojzeš, who adds a few string arrangements in the places where they fit best.  And, together, they explore an impressive range of genres, from folk, to country, to jazz and all points in between.

REMEMBERING THE GOOD TIMES

Indeed, it’s on a jazzy theme that Winter King gets In The Low light underway.  It’s a melancholy tune, rich and warming.  Jon’s double bass digs a deep groove and Tali’s electric guitar adds the tears, as Lucy sings her heartbreaking refrain: “If only you were here…”  And that theme of loss is continued into the folky In My Corner, an intimate song in which, not for the last time, Lucy seems to summon the spirit of Joni Mitchell for the delivery of her well-considered lyrics.  The basic accompaniment is provided by Lucy’s acoustic guitar and Pat’s shuffling drums, whilst Tali’s banjo and Michael’s soaring pedal steel look after the highlights.

Lucy’s lyrics consider the disorienting passage of time after loss in the tender The Ways We Were.  This time, it’s Sandy Denny that seems to provide Lucy’s vocal inspiration; Peter’s strings are a sweet, rich counterpoint to Lucy’s plucked acoustic guitar, as she dreams, sadly but fondly, of the good times that she spent with Stephen.

The accompaniment is pared right back to a single, fingerpicked, acoustic guitar for the gentle, tender, hopeful, Olivia and, quite honestly, that’s all this song requires.  Surely Lucy is calling upon her own experience of dealing with grief, as she offers encouragement to her friend, the titular Olivia, with lyrics like: “I can tell you – you’re worth so much more – but you know that anyway” and “Maybe it’s time to cut the rope and set yourself free.”

CHANNELING SANDY AND JONI

The spirit of Sandy Denny is back for the enchanting Blue Light.  Lucy sings like a nightingale for the song’s “Everything’s changed – but we’re all the same” chorus.  The band are restrained – yet fully effective – with Tali’s electric guitar striking a mellow tone and Michael’s pedal steel tracking Lucy right the way through the high notes.

Milk And Honey is described as “…a low, romantic sway” in the album’s press release and that’s a shrewd description – I was swaying, with eyes closed, before I’d even read it!  Lucy’s lyrics describe the quandry of “…wishing for things to be different, simpler, uncomplicated – but knowing that you can’t have that and how you come to terms with accepting that.”  The strings are back and the mood is sweet but Lucy’s lyrics: “’Coz all my dreams are nightmares of losing you.  One day, I’m gonna wake and find I’ve been left behind” tell a different story.  But, even here, there’s hope, as Lucy concludes: “Oh – I wish my dreams could be filled with milk and honey.”

Happier times are afoot, though, and they arrive in the form of the summery, jazzy, Sunny Days.  Jazzy guitar and Lucy’s soothing flute introduce a song that welcomes the arrival of Spring.  The band are in perfect accord, with Pat’s light, effective drumbeat, Jon’s subtle bass and Tali’s sharp strums of guitar providing a glorious backdrop as Lucy gets ever closer to occupying that elusive Joni Mitchell mantle.

A SHOW-STOPPING CLASSIC

Lucy’s advice: “Find a little corner, drink the wine, get giddy, get high,” sets an upbeat mood for the country-flavoured Red Skies.  Tali’s banjo and, particularly, Michael’s divine pedal steel solo complete the country feel but there’s a warning in Lucy’s lyrics, as she reveals: “There’s devils in those red skies tonight…” 

But any ideas of hilarity are truly banished for the devastating Chemo Song – written during the final stages of Stephen’s first round of chemotherapy.  It’s the album’s most uncompromisingly moving song – starkly confessional, yet warm with emotion.  But Lucy offers glimmers of hope, even here, as she follows her line: “I love him so, but I’m not ready to let him go” with “One day all the birds were back – and they were singing away the winter’s cold.”  Speaking of the circumstances that inspired the song, Lucy says: “It felt like we were shut off in our own little world, like something out of a fairy tale.  It was like everything was paused and we were just waiting for Spring.”

I’ve already admired how lead single, The Boatman, grows from its gentle beginnings into a full-blown anthem and I can now confirm – that effect is enhanced by repeated plays of the song.  It’s the track on which the band mesh well-and-truly together and, quite possibly, it’s Lucy’s finest vocal performance, too.  In the Low Light was always destined to throw up at least one show-stopping classic and, I suspect that The Boatman is that classic.

LET’S MOVE FORWARD WITH OUR DREAMS

To close an engaging, thoroughly enjoyable album, we’re left with Lucy and just her acoustic guitar for September’s Come.  September was, once upon a time, Lucy’s favourite month of the year, but that’s a preference that’s been tainted.  September was, of course, also the month that preceded Stephen’s far-too-early passing.  But, in keeping with the theme of the album, Lucy serves up a final dollop of hope with her closing message: “Now September’s come – and I’m full of songs, pouring out of my bones.”  It’s brave, it’s charming and it’s as sweet as syrup!

“Making this album rebuilt me more than anything else,” says Lucy.  “From the moment we started recording I just felt this pure excitement to be creating something new with these amazing musicians.  I think when you’re recording, you embody the music and everything else falls away, so, for me, it just felt like magic.  I felt like it brought me back to myself and what I love to do.  I can’t wait for everyone to hear the album.  We all lose things throughout our lives through death, endings, leavings and I hope people find their own stories within these songs and connect with the idea that we can make beautiful things out of these events and still move forward with our dreams.”

Watch the official video to In My Corner – a track from the album – below:

Lucy Kitchen: Website

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