Lady Gasoline
'Lady Gasoline' is the second studio album from Dublin-born musician Chris Singleton and his backing band The Distractions.
It was released in Ireland on 28 June 2010 through Proper Distribution and IRL, an independent label whose other artists include Damien Dempsey, The Wonder Stuff and Sharon Shannon; following a generally good critical reaction in Ireland a decision was made to release the album in the UK in May 2011.
Musical influences
Lady Gasoline draws on a wider range of influences than Singleton's first album, Twisted City (the Lady Gasoline press release cited a diverse range of influences including Lou Reed, eighties electropop, glam rock and The Stone Roses). Reviews were generally positive: Music Week described it as 'packed full of musical depth and surefire radio hits', Q Magazine praised its eclecticism and Ireland's Sunday Business Post gave it a four star review, praising it for having "yearning lyrics, poetic metaphors and an agreeable dose of spite". A dissenting voice came from The Irish Times' Lauren Murphy, who felt the album amounted to 'pedestrian pop' and described Singleton's battle with hyperacusis as an 'angle'. The record was produced by Chris Singleton and like Twisted City was mastered at Abbey Road, by Steve Rooke, the engineer responsible for the 2009 Beatles remasters.
Themes
According to Singleton - who released a mini-documentary about the album in January 2011 - the themes on the record are chiefly love, lust and sex. 'Lady Gasoline' is a character which embodies those themes, "a 'super-muse' who walks all over the tracks."
The Distractions
Unlike Twisted City, a large number of musicians feature on the album, including pianist Andy Fleet, backing singer John Gibbons, guitarist Stelios Kalisperides, bassist Zane Maertens and drummer Ben Woollacott. They are credited as 'The Distractions'.
Singles from the album
- Lady Gasoline (28 May 2011)
- Lose It / Lou Reed (1 October 2011)
- You Came With a Bang (4 April 2011)