The Lamb singer has carved out an impressive, if intermittent, solo career since she initially left the much-loved electronic jazzy drum’n'bass trip hoppers Lamb, beginning with the Mercury nominated ‘Beloved One’ in 2006. This, her fourth solo album, is her first since 2010, the intervening years being filled with occasional Lamb 'reunion' tours and releases, with her own solo career largely on hold, up till now.

As a solo singer-songwriter, Rhodes has consistently demonstrated her ability as a melody writer, and craftswoman of relatively simple songs, that are then embellished with an occasionally luscious, sometimes raw and stripped back, acoustic ambience. Lamb, the band, didn't allow her to really stretch this side of her, being primarily a vehicle for the largely electronic music of Andy Barlow, while Rhodes was the singer and provided the lyrics. And for a while, there seemed to be a tension between the two aspects of her music making. But, hopefully, the two can continue to sit side-by-side, contributing as it were, to the holistic, if deeply personal vision of Lou Rhodes, a musical artist whose primary concerns are peace, love and the environment. There are no general statements, and no platitudes; just a melancholic stream of hopeful openness, modest ambitions and caring thoughts, that can easily be transported from the particular to the general, via her organic folksy bearing.

Appropriately enough, field recordings of singing birds opens up Theyesandeye, before she sings: "Been waiting of this song to come, and fall into my heart / Just when I thought I was undone, the end was just the start," accompanied by a Nick Drake style fingerpicking ambience, her tremolo voice as clear and subtly commanding as always, accompanied by stark percussion, angelic backing vocals and some gentle piano notes. And the dualistic love and environmental themes continues with All I Need, a love song to both human and non-humans: "All that I want, and all that I need, is here… there's a magic all around, every sight and every sound / Seems to greet me so sweetly, and makes me completely."

Moreover, the natural world is visited on the punned ‘See Organ’, a call to 'arms' for the eco-warrior in us on this ever-so-slightly more strident number: “All this time we thought the world was at our feet, and now it’s clear it's in our hands / Can't judge success by what we got, not what we gave to it.” It also features some stirring harp flourishes courtesy of Tom Moth, who features throughout the album.

It's all simple, yet effective stuff, from the girl with the timelessly hippy heart. But, she takes from contemporary influences too, such as on her cover of The xx's ‘Angels’, which is another beautifully delivered love song, the fragility of tenderness tracked by the repeating words 'love love, love' tail-ending another simply delivered song. Elsewhere, a beautiful piano chord sequence and strings underpin the gently finger-pointing of ‘Them’, while ‘Full Moon’ celebrates worldly femininity and ‘Sun & Moon’ is another simple yet charming lullabyish song, all 1.41 of it: "You bring my sunshine, and I'll be your moon / brighten my daytime, and I'll shine in the gloom."

There is a discernible old school recording feel about Theyesandeye. Surface noise'n'hum features in places, deliberately mimicking the glory days of 12 inch platters, while the music is gently washed in reverb, and anointed in analogue tape echoes via the studio of Simon Byrt, who co-produces here with Rhodes as well as providing much of the instrumentation, along with Rhodes’ acoustic guitar, and guest spots from the likes of pedal steel player Ian Kellet, the minimalist drumming of Nikolai Bjerre, and the evocative string arrangements of Danny Keane.

"Sometimes I think, 'My God, I keep writing all these love songs,' and I really struggle with that," Rhodes has recently said. "I think I'm a bit of an emotional junkie, you know? It seems to be what consumes me. The heart never ceases to provide me with subject matter. I don't know why that is. Someone asked me the other day, 'Are you in love with being in love?' And I couldn't really answer that question." Indeed, she is the archetypal dreamer, but one that fights through the gloom, angst, and self-doubt to realise her desire to be in love, and to love, on a human level, and by extension, the earth.

The album title is based on a painting she saw one day, one that spoke to her about positivity and affirmation, echoing her new credo, as she has said about the album. She's a dreamer, yes, but her dreams are ones we should all bathe in.
Jeff Hemmings

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