Låpsley

Holly Lapsley Fletcher (born 7 August 1996), known professionally as Låpsley, is an English singer, songwriter, musician and producer. She came to prominence in the mid-2010s with a series of self-produced EPs and was long-listed for the BBC Sound of 2015 poll.^[1][2] Her debut album, Long Way Home (2016), was released by XL Recordings to positive reviews and peaked at No. 32 in the UK Albums Chart.^[3] She has since released three further studio albums – Through Water (2020), Cautionary Tales of Youth (2023) and I'm a Hurricane I'm a Woman in Love (2025) – as well as the 2024 EP A Guilty Heart Can Never Rest, moving from major-label releases to fully independent work.^[4][5][6][7]

Låpsley was born in York, North Yorkshire, and grew up in Southport, Merseyside.^[8] Her middle name, Lapsley, is her mother's maiden name.^[9] She attended Greenbank High School and Formby High School for sixth form.^[10]

She has said that she adapted her stage name from "Lapsley" to "Låpsley" by adding the Scandinavian letter Å, partly because of a long-standing fascination with Scandinavia, which she discussed on the Scandinavian talk show Skavlan in 2016.^[11]

As a teenager, Låpsley sang and played in several bands around Merseyside before releasing her debut solo EP, Monday, recorded largely in her bedroom and uploaded to SoundCloud in 2013–2014. The EP attracted hundreds of thousands of plays and attention from UK music blogs, winning her the "One to Watch" prize at Merseyside's GIT Award in April 2014.^[12][13]

In June 2014 she performed on the BBC Introducing stage at the Glastonbury Festival, championed by BBC Radio 1 DJs including Huw Stephens and Zane Lowe.^[14] Her song "Painter (Valentine)" was playlisted on BBC Radio 1 later that year.^[15]

Låpsley signed to XL Recordings in October 2014 and released the EP Understudy in January 2015.^[16] She was long-listed for the BBC Sound of 2015 poll and also topped the Blog Sound of 2015 list compiled by UK music bloggers.^[17][18]

Her debut album Long Way Home was released on 4 March 2016 through XL Recordings. It reached number 32 on the UK Albums Chart and charted in several other territories, with critics highlighting its sparse electronic arrangements and emotionally direct lyrics.^[19][20] Around this time she made her US television debut on NBC's Today, performing the single "Love Is Blind".^[21] Songs from the record later appeared on the soundtrack of the film American Honey directed by Andrea Arnold and in television drama The Five.^[22]

In 2017, Billie Eilish cited the song "Station" as a main inspiration for her breakthrough hit "Ocean Eyes".^[23]

Låpsley spent several years writing and recording her second album while touring and DJing. Through Water was released by XL on 20 March 2020, shortly before many territories went into COVID-19 lockdown.^[24] The disruption meant that the album’s touring cycle was cancelled. She has since said that the timing contributed to her being dropped by her label, management and publisher in the months that followed.^[25]

The record expanded her sound into more textured, atmospheric territory and included the single "Womxn", which was released ahead of International Women’s Day 2020 and addressed female resilience and solidarity.^[26]

After the end of her deal with XL, Låpsley began working independently on new material and travelling to South Africa, where she wrote and recorded much of her third album.^[27] Cautionary Tales of Youth was released on 20 January 2023 on Believe.^[28] The album was described by reviewers as a diaristic break-up record documenting the end of a turbulent relationship and her attempt to rebuild her life and career in the aftermath of the pandemic.^[29]

Singles from the era included "Hotel Corridors", which drew on UK garage influences, and "Smoke and Fire".^[30] The record also marked a shift towards more band-oriented arrangements with live drums and guitar.

On 10 May 2024 she released the EP A Guilty Heart Can Never Rest, preceded by the single "4am Ascension Day".^[31][32] Critics noted the EP’s themes of remorse and self-reflection and its blending of electronic production with more organic instrumentation.^[33]

During the 2024 United Kingdom general election campaign, the Labour Party used "Better Times", Låpsley’s 2023 house collaboration with Scottish DJ KC Lights, as entrance music for several speeches by party leader Keir Starmer and shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves. Låpsley publicly welcomed the song’s use and expressed her support for Labour.^[34][35]

Låpsley’s fourth studio album, I'm a Hurricane I'm a Woman in Love, was released in May 2025 on her own imprint Her Own Recordings, distributed by Believe.^[36][37] The album continued the narrative arc begun on Cautionary Tales of Youth, drawing on Låpsley’s real-life experience of a complex three-person relationship involving herself, South African musician Greg Abrahams and the partner who later became her fiancé.^[38]

In interviews around the release, she described the record as a meditation on guilt, choice and patriarchy, written while she was in therapy and trying to decide how to resolve the relationship. Its songs span propulsive drum-led tracks such as "Hurricane" and more choral or piano-driven pieces like "Lilac Hues".^[39][40]

The album was her first fully independent release and was noted by commentators as consolidating her position as a distinct voice in British art-pop and electronic music.^[41]

Låpsley’s music has been described as art pop, ambient pop and alternative R&B, combining minimal electronic production with piano, guitar and live drums. Critics have compared her early work to that of The xx and London Grammar, highlighting her use of pitched-down vocal harmonies and sparse beats.^[42] Later releases have incorporated elements of UK garage, house and indie rock, reflecting her interest in club music, afrobeats and South African genres such as gqom.^[43]

She has cited Dolly Parton, Paul Simon and Ella Fitzgerald among her dream collaborators, and has said that many of her songs function as "cautionary tales" drawn from her twenties.^[44]

Låpsley has spoken openly about entering the music industry as a teenager and later dealing with anxiety, alcohol dependency and burnout, describing the pressures on young artists and advocating for better care and boundaries in touring culture.^[45]

On 28 June 2020, she came out as bisexual in an Instagram post, a move that was widely reported in LGBTQ+ media.^[46] She has since described herself as a queer woman making mainstream pop and has discussed how that informs her songwriting and public persona.^[47]

As of 2025, she is based in London and has spoken in interviews about living with her fiancé and their dog in east London.^[48]

• Long Way Home (2016, XL Recordings)
• Through Water (2020, XL Recordings)
• Cautionary Tales of Youth (2023, Believe)
• I'm a Hurricane I'm a Woman in Love (2025, Her Own Recordings)

• Monday (2014)
• Understudy (2015)
• These Elements (2019)
• A Guilty Heart Can Never Rest (2024)

• "Station" (2014)
• "Painter (Valentine)" (2014)
• "Falling Short" (2014)
• "Brownlow" (2015)
• "Hurt Me" (2015)
• "Love Is Blind" (2016)
• "Operator (He Doesn't Call Me)" (2016)
• "My Love Was Like the Rain" (2019)
• "Womxn" (2020)
• "32 Floors" (2022)
• "Hotel Corridors" (2022)
• "Lifeline" (2023)
• "Better Times" (with KC Lights, 2023)
• "4am Ascension Day" (2024)
• "Hurricane" (2025)

• Official website
• Låpsley at AllMusic
• Låpsley discography at MusicBrainz