Born in Cornwall and writing her own lyrics from an early age, Lots lets her social conscience come to the fore on this single release World’s On Fire. The words matter to her and fuel her song delivery but the number has a hook. Over to her:

  “ I wrote it back in the summer of 2016 when a lot of strange and sad things were happening,” says Lots. “Brexit, the Orlando shooting, the Bastille Day attack, the US presidential battle, the refugee crisis and the on going war in Syria, to name just a few. The song wasn’t inspired by any particular event, but more the amalgamation of them as a whole, it’s an observation of the world in which we’ve found ourselves.”  

This is a generation that was not around to know how Britain operated pre-EEC / EU of course and Brexit may feel like an encroachment on what they view as their rights. Maybe a few more of them now understand that they should take the trouble to vote. At least they won’t have to serve in an EU Army…

As for the video, Lots says :   “It’s a direct reflection of the lyrics.  “I wanted to show examples of the chaos I speak about in the song.  We shot the video in an old farm building with no heating and at one point it was below 0 degrees. You’ll see just how cold it was from how visible my breath is in some of the shots.”  

Watching the film that accompanies the single a number of things strike the viewer/ listener – the historic and current news film footage has all the usual suspects and incidents like May, Trump, Paris Bombings, Refugees, armies, corpse on the beach. Few of the bad elements are fixable by individuals but Lots clearly believes that some unity and common purpose might right some wrongs or at least ameliorate the worst aspects of contemporary existence.

The musical backing is synth-ridden and a tad cold, but maybe that was a decision made to complement the lyrics in some way. Also she has a strong pleading voice very reminiscent in phrasing of Annie Lennox, another artist with a boxful of causes.   So we wish Lots luck with this release and await more material.

Pete Sargeant

(Many thanks to Steve Rose at Emms Publicity for help with this review)