Tommy Ludgate - So Cruel (single)

Self-Released - Out Now

Awarded with £15,000 by slicethepie.com to record an album, 23 years old singer Tommy Ludgate surrounded herself with a couple of musicians, a well-established producer / mixer and came out of the studio with ‘Wall of Words’. ‘So Cruel’ is the second single off the album and, as mentioned in her biography, she does meld her influences of soul, blues and pop together, resulting in this semi-successful record.

Starting off with a country sounding solo guitar, ‘So Cruel’ soon makes it's way through the complete history of music. Her sensitive voice wouldn’t have been misplaced within the smooth music of the Supremes, the background choir relives the highlights of gospel music and the slow acoustic guitar arrangement represents the singer/songwriter genre. But despite all good intentions and musical styles, the song soon ruins itself. A line like "Why must they kill people in war, oh why must they be so cruel?: followed by "da bi do li da" shows neither a talent for original writing nor a sense of…well, sense, and everything that happened in the first minute just goes on and on for three more minutes.

The main problem however isn’t the lyrics or the fact that she tries to put way too much musical styles into one song, the problem is that the song just isn’t that memorable. Ludgate’s voice isn’t bad at all, but she never dares to take a step outside of the main road. Her voice sounds too civilized, the music sounds like a forced calculated formula and the lyrics…well, outside of the people who earn their living with selling guns to the enemy, everyone is against war aren't they?

It’s the same story with B-side ‘Sweet Release’, released as a single earlier this year. It’s a bit more R’nB (not Rhythm and Blues) based and contains a bit more groans and a little less singing, but again, it’s all so civilized.

For lovers of laid-back music ‘So Cruel’/’Sweet Release’ is not that bad; just don’t think of Tommy Ludgate as the new soul sensation. She’s got a nice voice, and the music is nice and that’s basically the major problem; it’s just nice. A soul or gospel album might, considering her voice and style, have been a better option. Instead, she blended it all together and added extra whipped cream on top. Hence the smooth result.

Some people with access to 15,000 pounds would go out of their mind and make the musical trip of their lives, Tommy Ludgate chose to take the mainstream road that led to a safe spot in the traffic jam rather than the quiet mountain road that would have led her to amazing heights.