8/10

Having spent much of the last two years releasing a flurry of singles and EPs, singer-songwriter Holly Lapsley Fletcher aka Låpsley kicks off her 2016 with the release of her debut album 'Long Way Home'. And while this new record does contain a few tracks from her previous EPs, it is largely a collection of new work that aims to reflect the growth and maturity we have seen from this artist in the last few months.

Starting off with the anthemic 'Heartless', the album initially looks to break the preconceptions of who Låpsley is as an artist. Having built a name on minimal guitar-and-vocal based songwriting, the production of this new work gives her a much bigger sound than we have seen before and looks to up the ante of her material to date. While it still has its sombre moments, the bulk of this record aims to display the mix between Låpsley's emotional performance and an interesting instrumental backdrop, giving her an extremely rare style.

'Long Way Home' is certainly the album we were all hoping for. While it has nearly all but left behind the sounds of her origins, it has blossomed this new and interesting direction, allowing this full-length to become the initial statement for her career ahead. There is very little chance of seeing the last of her after this as it looks like just the beginning for this upcoming name.