There are a lot of independent artists out there waiting for the chance for you to invite their music into your ears. And sometimes those artists only click with you if you’re in a certain mood. As for Luciar’s latest EP, Feeling A Little Emo, you have to be in the mood for a confused mix of cabaret, Broadway show tunes, and attempts at emo punk sentiments, all sang by a hormonal, angsty Cruella De Vil when she was going through puberty. And to be honest, the album cover artwork sums all of that up quite nicely. 
The most important thing, for me as a listener, is when an artist knows him or herself through and through. You have to know what you’re capable of and what’s a stretch. You also can’t try to do too much at once, lest you lose the essence of what you want to achieve. It seems that Luciar didn’t follow most of these guidelines.
As an overall project, I couldn’t get one cohesive arc of emotions. The varied production and singing style made a six track EP feel like four different EP’s. The first of these EP’s consists of “Let It Pass,” “What I Want,” and “Up,” which could be part of the soundtrack to a modern remake of Les Miserables or a similar production. The heavy strings on “Let It Pass” drive the song to capture my attention but then when Luciar holds out drawn out notes, they go flat and never balance out. The accordion and sultry approach on “What I Want” put me in the mindset of a ragged man playing away on his organ grinder for his monkey to do half-hearted tricks, but again, Luciar breaks that flow of consciousness with choppy syllables that don’t end in time and lyrics that don’t sit well with me under any circumstance: “Want to stare at you as you sleep/watch over you creepily.” “Up” is a fitting finale to this three movement Broadway play as a sad but uplifting tune, with Ben Folds-esque piano melodies sprinkled in. The last minute of the track is the one moment of Luciar showcasing command of her voice and it sounds full in confidence.
The remaining EP’s are single track ones. The things about “Only Love” that irked me was that it reminded me too much of Diana Krall, serving as an out of place reprieve from the rest of the five tracks. “Deadly Precious” oddly switches back and forth between a Gothic remake of “Eentsy, Weentsy Spider” and Zydeco with a heavy swing tempo. And “Feeling A Little Emo” wouldn’t sink in because I couldn’t take the song seriously. I wasn’t sure if she was making light of her problems but describing herself as a little emo or if she was serious.
Luciar struggles a lot to hold the drawn out notes in tune throughout the EP. And if it is in tune, it’s either scratchy or strained. I hope she finds her sound and works on one at a time from now on. Otherwise, her fans may feel a little bit more than emo.
1.5 / 5 bars
Luciar – “Only Love”
Luciar – “Deadly Precious”
