EP Review: Lucy McWilliams - 'Third Second Chance'
Lucy McWilliams explores love, adulthood and boundaries in her debut EP.
When she was only 11 years old, McWilliams felt overwhelmed by Amy Winehouse’s performance at Other Voices, a prestigious Irish festival. She is now 23 years old and is the one performing at the festival and releasing her debut EP, “Third Second Chance”.
Dublin-born singer-songwriter has been praised for the past few years in the Irish music scene. On her first album, she is making a tribute to adulthood and figuring out how to deal with discomfort.
It is hard to fit the album into one genre. Maybe because she is so diverse and has been working on her music since such a young age.
Produced by Zach Dawes (Lana Del Rey and The Last Shadow Puppets), “Third Second Chance” tells a story about letting go of other people’s opinions and being OK with who you truly are.
The opening song is “Plastic” and it is a reflection on getting older and becoming something you never wanted to be in the first place. The chorus is led by a guitar and followed by McWilliams' anguished voice while questioning: “Am I plastic to you?/ Do I breath at all?/Said you’d never grow up/ But you’re only getting old”.
Almost relieved, she takes us from a rock universe to “Mr Useless”, a pop track with a strong presence of piano. Following her dedication to the lyrics, she talks about the difficulties of putting boundaries in a situation that is no longer beneficial. “The song is quite self-explanatory. It’s the first time I enjoyed being angry with a situation… I guess this song is about seeing flaws in a situation that you hadn’t before, and it was exciting to write from that perspective”, she says.
McWilliams soft vocals lead the third track, “Old Ways”. Musically, it is a more soft and melodic track. It starts as a tribute to her hometown, Dublin, and talks about growing apart from people and having to leave certain things behind.
When putting the album together, McWilliams was going through a breakup, but her lyrics are far off from what we are used to when it comes to heartbreak songs. “It’s easy to play into this feminine role of people-pleasing, being caring, letting people off where I shouldn’t. But this is the first time I’ve allowed myself to be angry; I still am open to being loved and being hurt, but I am angry, and I’m allowed to be. And I think Zach Dawes got that straight away: I always thought I had to be timid and not take up too much space, but he showed me I could be confident and embody being both soft and hard, quiet and loud.”
This doesn’t mean that there are no love songs in the EP. “Follow Me” is the one. It brings out the indie rock soul of the EP _, and its title. “Baby, it’s my time to be loved/Can you teach me how?/I’m on my third second chance/I hope that this is my last dance”.
While searching for love, McWilliams pours out her soul and proves that her vocals can go from soft melodies to powerful in one beat. “I think the sound changes a lot because singing is my instrument. I’m really influenced by what’s around me, what I’m listening to, but I think the themes I’m talking about through my music are always the same”, she explains.
The last track is “I’m OK”, a piano-led song that highlights the uniqueness of McWilliams' voice. “These are the best days/Everybody said” is a statement of what being young is. The idea that those are the best years of our lives when there is so much more to come. At least for her, the expectations for the emerging artist are high, as she will be playing sold-out concerts in London and in Dublin this March.
Words by Gabriela Simionato
