Kelsey Lu - Blood

The Guardian 100

(Columbia)

Intricate and sculptural, North Carolina singer-songwriter-producer Kelsey Lu deals in music where the unifying genre is, essentially, beauty. Having previously collaborated with the likes of Sampha, Solange and Florence Welch, the Los Angeles-based artist’s sublime debut album arrives, delving between everything from absorbing dream-pop, twangy blues, left-field electronics, serene ambient and even delicate classical (Lu is a trained cellist). Blood is meditative, surreal and deeply imaginative – be that in the lush, cryptic cover of 10cc’s I’m Not in Love, the rapturous gliding disco of Poor Fake, or the birdsong that intermingles with harp over Kindred parts one and two.

Crafted with producers as far afield as Skrillex, Jamie xx and Rodaidh McDonald, the album ekes out a warm, naturalistic yet experimental space, all topped with her powerful, disarming voice that implores light in the darkness – “History taught us hope is the answer / yes it is”, she sings on the title track, as the record draws to a close. Lu seems intent to immerse us fully, deeply, intimately into her gossamer creative vision – and she succeeds. An astonishing first album.

The Guardian 80

(Columbia)

A softness permeates the music of classically trained cellist and songwriter Kelsey Lu. Not the softness of background muzak or meditative introspection, but a concentrated, purposeful mood – one teased out by billowing melodies, bowed beneath her crystalline vocals.

After dropping out of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and moving to New York to record her one-take debut EP, Church, in 2016, there has been a buzz of anticipation surrounding Lu’s compositions. Where Church seemed to absorb its ecclesiastical surroundings in the eerie, incantatory feel of her solo playing – looped to surround her vocals – the arrival of her debut LP marks Lu out as a formidable singer and songwriter, as much as a composer.

Pitchfork 75

Featuring collaborations with Skrillex and Jamie xx, the West Coast transplant’s debut album flips the chamber-folk cello of her debut EP into a contemporary, decidedly Los Angeles hybrid sound.