The Fairy of the Moon and Forest

Y'all, my queen of the moon phases and the forests is here. I finally get to talk about Lucia in our third post on amazing female soloists for this week!

📸: Lucia Wiki

Lucia, much like Hynn and msftz in the posts before her this week, will also have her own intro and master posts, so please look forward to those in the future. I am so excited to talk about her newest release because Lucia is an automatic preorder for me. The second I see she has an album available and I don't already own it, I throw it in my cart and I purchase it.

I loved her Lunar Phases album series she dropped in 2020 and I had been dying for something new since. She heard my wishes and delivered with Narrow road.

So, I'm going to change it up a little bit. In my previous reviews, I went track-by-track. In this review, I'll talk with y'all about how I felt about the album in general and then get a little more specific with my favorite tracks further down. Just gonna try out a new format and see what works the best, y'know?

SHE'S UNFORGETTABLE

Hey, so I'm gonna do what I do and continue to preach the word of my favorite artists who, for some reason don't get seen or heard enough.

Lucia always feels so... deliberate. I mentioned in an earlier album review (I think my Seventeen Attacca review), but when I listen to an album for the first time, I listen to the tracks in the order the artist placed them in. I feel like with Narrow road, you absolutely have to do this to get the feel for the album.

"The stream" sets the tone, "Forest" builds it gradually, "Someday" picks up gently after where "Forest" ends and gently sways you to "Narrow road" with a bit of an extra bounce. "Narrow road" slows us down a little, as we get to the middle of the album, before then we wander off to "Rainbow's end". Very slightly brighter, but equally as stunning; what a pairing of songs for the middle of our journey. As we come up towards the end, with the penultimate song "La Pluie", the brightness is more apparent, much like the coming up to the clearing of the top of a mountain. And as we finish out adventure on top of the mountain, nighttime settles in with "Nox" and the stars are so vivid and clear and we feel accomplished and at peace.

I cannot explain to you appropriately, with all of the combinations in the English or Korean languages, how much I love this album. In November of 2021, I can safely say that Narrow road by Lucia is on my Top 5 Albums of 2021. Hands down. No contest.

Lucia continues to be an incredible artist that does not disappoint. Each song provides a new step in the journey, each track offers a new color to the listener. Lucia gives us nothing but impeccable vocals and rich emotion as she tells this story to us and I am so pleased and so happy and so satisfied.

Thank you for this gift of an album.

PIECE BY PIECE

My favorite tracks on this album are... all of them? I MEAN? I'M KIDDING BUT?? I'M NOT KIDDING????/?

Okay, look. Hear me out. "The stream" has a choir component and I am an actual bitch for them. Plus the timing is incredible because it feels so winter, this song feels perfect for the winter months that are coming. As the weather is chilled and nipping at my skin and I crave warm hot chocolate and spicy chai lattes, it just feels so comforting somehow.

Y'all. "Narrow road" is. I'm. LUCIA'S VOICE IS OTHERWORLDLY. OUT OF THIS ENTIRE STATE OF BEING. She has a vocal power that is truly astonishing. When I say that Lucia is one of my top favorite vocalists of my life, I'm not joking. The beautiful blend of her voice, swelling with orchestral instruments and the piano, is forever one of my favorite things. Her tone is also a darker one compared to most ballad singers and it's something that I think makes her voice stand out in such an overwhelming way.

I'll say it. This track had me taking a minute because your girl got emotional. I have no shame about admitting it because I will never shut up about how much I love her voice.

Strangely bewitching, mostly hopeful, but sometimes sad: "La Pluie". I am obsessed with the progression of this song. 1000000000% obsessed. Songs like "La Pluie" and like "Narrow road" have me truly blown away and bowled over to an emotional level at how talented and how arresting Lucia's vocals are.

In discussing the album as a whole, I likened "La Pluie" to a brighter moment of finally beginning to see the clearing at the top of a mountain and that imagery really sticks to me when I listen to this song (so many times, so. many. times.). You're so relieved that you can finally see your goal, you're finally getting there!! but you're a little sad because it's almost over, even though it's good that it's almost over. Somehow, even with that sadness, all of the feelings are good.

Everything is just really good.

*PTERODACTYL SCREECHING* THE WAY SHE SINGS "NOX"? I REALLY CANNOT. She puts so much into each song, there is just SO much to love. The vocal range, the whisper singing, the breathiness, the guitar, the velvet of darkness you can feel covering this song like a soft fleece blanket. I love this song, I love this album, I love Lucia.

I'm so happy.

I seem to be a very visual person when it comes to describing music. It's not something I ever really noticed until I started writing it out, but I hope that doesn't annoy you guys!

Until we meet again, stan Lucia. Like.. why haven't you started yet?

Ash✨