Ada Lea's new LP, One Hand Steering the Wheel the Other Sewing a Garden, is available through Saddle Creek. On one hand, it’s a collection of walking-paced, cathartic pop/folk songs, on the other it’s a book of heart-twisting, rear-view stories of city life...

For me, this album was a bit of mixed bag. I couldn't help feeling that it was an extremely slow burner and would take months to really get to know. For some, that will be a good thing, for others it will be a barrier they are unable to break through. It is a creative pop folk album that's a little bit trippy, feeling a little out of time.

Despite the press release trying to dress up the album's title as something innocent, it's quite clear to anyone with an enquiring mind that it's born out of a sexual euphemism (you can use your own imagination for just what exactly).

Whilst Lea's dreamy vocals will wash over you, you might find, as I did, that they start to grate a little too quickly.

A pretty average affair that you're either going to love or not get on with at all.

5

Nick Smithson