Seven Stories (parts one and two): released 23rd February 2024
“Storytelling is at the heart of Duffy’s songwriting but she finds a unique angle or topic on each track that brings a fresh perspective to a common and relatable issue.” – Maverick magazine on the 2021 debut EP from Little Lore
Following her fantastically well-received debut EP as a solo artist back in 2021, Seven Stories is the latest project from Tricia Duffy and her singer-songwriter alter ego, Little Lore. The first four songs, Seven Stories part one, were released digitally back in September 2023 with the final three songs Seven Stories part two being released in February of this year. A CD version, featuring all seven songs from both parts one and two, is also set for release on 23rd February 2024.
Little Lore: “I had seven songs and I decided to release it in two parts: Seven Stories part one and Seven Stories part two. I’m now thrilled to be releasing the final three songs from the project as well as the CD bringing all seven songs in the collection together. There’s a real variety of styles. Death is one of my go to subjects to write about so there are a couple of quite bleak, sad songs. I’ve got some wry wit in there as well. There’s obviously a climate change one as well – I always like to include one of those. It’s a figurative song written from the perspective of the planet.”
Featuring Little Lore’s compelling storytelling, irresistible melodies and heartfelt vocals, Seven Stories is again produced by renowned New York-based producer and multi-instrumentalist, Oli Deakin (who records under the name of Lowpines). As with the debut Little Lore EP and subsequent singles, Oli Deakin provides the lush instrumentation on each of the tracks, with Morgan Karabel, once again, featuring on drums.
Little Lore adds: “I recorded the vocals in a studio in Kent with an amazing producer and engineer called Paul Stanborough. Lowpines (Oli Deakin) has done the production and all of the instrumentation again and Morgan Karabel is playing drums once more. It is important to me to have women in the team so having a female drummer is really cool.”
On working with Little Lore, Oli Deakin comments: “Working with Tricia on her records as Little Lore has been a really fun journey. As a producer it’s always exciting to work with people who have great ideas, and even more so when they’re also open to building on those ideas and trusting where that might lead. Tricia has been very generous with that trust, which I think has given us both a lot of confidence to be adventurous with our approach, both in the writing and the recording. It’s super rewarding to go out on a limb with an idea and have it land in a place we both get excited about!”
For the full interview with Little Lore visit here
Six of the seven tracks were again written by Tricia Duffy while the final track, ‘It Would be Easier to Miss You if You’d Died’ was a writing collaboration between Tricia and musician and songwriter, Thiago Trosso. A part of the US Ska/Punk/Reggae scene and playing as a session musician in his home country, Thiago Trosso moved to the UK in 2015 with the goal of building a career as a songwriter and solo artist. He finished a Songwriting MA in London, and is now doing a PhD in therapeutic songwriting, opening the path for co-writing with numerous artists around the world.
Seven Stories (parts one and two) will be released on CD on 23rd February 2024 and the final three songs from the project will also be available on all the main digital platforms on the same date.
Available via https://littlelore.bandcamp.com or https://littlelore.ffm.to/sevenstoriespartone
Seven Stories – track by track:
- Running on Empty: “Written from the perspective of the planet, it’s sort of a love letter to the human race. The lyrics start “I hold you gently, while you destroy me. Running on Empty. I love you anyway. To get into the frame of mind I needed to write the song, I physically wrote a letter to humanity to help me get the sense of what I wanted to say, that the planet will survive the climate crisis just fine after we humans have wiped ourselves out, but she (Mother Earth) acknowledges that she benefits from some of our interventions. Despite the big topic, it’s a relatively simple song with a haunting Americana vibe.”
- Stolen Glances: “I wrote this song in response to a prompt from the Song-a-week challenge run by James Tristan Redding in Nashville. The prompt was “Stolen Glances” and I was travelling home from Cornwall on the train. I remember opening my computer and typing “on a train facing backwards, I steal glances”. It has had quite a lot of re-writes since that first draft – I think the original version is still knocking around on YouTube somewhere – it’s quite a different song lyrically now. I tried to capture the sense of movement and observation that can be inspired on long journeys, the narrator is searching for answers, but there is almost a sense of not quite knowing what questions she is asking. I think we have all felt that way at some point in our lives.”
- The Bench: “This devastating song was inspired by the benches that line the seafront in St. Ives in Cornwall and the true story of a friend of mine who tragically lost her husband a few years ago. The song tells the tale of a man and a women who meet and fall in love despite their age difference. He leaves her once because of the social discourse around their circumstances, but later returns and they marry only to have him leave her again. In the bridge it is revealed he hasn’t left her voluntarily, but died. In many societies benches are incredibly important to people, who use them to memorialise their loved ones with plaques that articulate their feelings about a particular place. “He loved this place” – for example. By centring the story around the bench, we have a sense of a specific location with which to build the narrative. And I believe this makes it more relatable as a result.”
- Sebastian Says: “This is a song about imposter syndrome and the inner critic. I have named the voice in my head Sebastian so this is my tribute to him and a good way to tell him to button it! Obviously it had to be a man who tells me I am too fat, doormat, too old, too cold etc. It is a full on driving rock Americana song which probably needs to be played at full volume!”
- The Jackal: “I originally wrote this for a TV Americana Crime brief, but I liked it so much I decided to release it myself. There are lots of myths surrounding the Jackal, which are known in some communities as ‘death dogs’ or as tricksters. The Egyptian God of the afterlife, Anubis, had the head of a jackal, so seeing a jackal was considered a warning that someone was in danger. A bit like a fox in European folklore, in African folklore the Jackal is recognised for its ability to adapt with cunning and stealth, a wily creature that dodges traps by feigning death. It has a black saddle because it offered to carry the sun on its back, burning his fur, and inspiring the words in my chorus.”
- Little Pieces: “I wrote this in response to a brief which was simply to write a song that was titled “little pieces” with a I IV V chord structure. I started mind mapping the words little pieces and somehow landed on the idea of food. I asked myself who eats food in little pieces? The infirm, babies, people at ‘80s dinner parties with pineapple and cheese on sticks? The lack of control people in care feel over all their choices I think can be summed up with the concept of food. Imagining what it must be like to have so little influence over your daily life that you can’t even decide what you eat must be disturbing. I had a lot of doubts about releasing this song as I know it is not going to be everyone’s cup of tea! But I took inspiration and confidence from the likes of Nick Cave and Tom Waits and decided to just go for it – with a lot of support from Oli who always believed. The arrangement is entirely unsettling and I am sure it is not an easy listen but sometimes stories just need to be told.”
- It Would be Easier to Miss You if You’d Died*:“This was a co-write with my friend and fellow songwriter, Thiago Trosso. I always like to come to writing sessions prepared with some ‘writable’ ideas. I don’t always need them, but I think it is the spirit of co-writing to bring your best stuff to the room. That day I read out a list of ideas to Thiago and when I told him the concept I had of being ghosted and it being easier to miss that person if they’d died – he smiled and said, “Let’s write that one!”. We knew it had to be a careful balance of wry wit and humour with sadness and I hope that we have struck that balance. It was inspired by a real experience of being ghosted which seems to be more common these days. Or maybe we just notice it more because we are all so connected. I think Oli thought I was crazy when I first sent him the song. It doesn’t fit a typical structure, starting with a half chorus to land the premise from the start. But he really leaned into the wry nature of the song and I think the instrumentation really enhances the feel. This is the first time I have ever cut a co-write, but I am positive it won’t be the last.”
Seven Stories: release information:
All Tracks written by Tricia Duffy except *written by Tricia Duffy and Thiago Trosso
Vocals – Tricia Duffy
Produced by – Oli Deakin
The Bench Drums – Oli Deakin
All other tracks Drums – Morgan Karabel
All other instruments – Oli Deakin
Vocal Recording – Paul Stanborough at Chapel Studio, Kent
Artwork – Afiya Paice
About Little Lore:
Little Lore is a London based, Indie-Americana singer-storyteller whose songs are both charmingly accessible and beguilingly challenging. You’ll want to listen twice. When you combine British wit and wordplay with cherished Americana roots, musical magic starts to happen. Based in Chiswick, West London, and originally hailing from Portsmouth, Tricia Duffy started her singing career as a teenager, which included a stint on cruise ships in the United States. She began writing and performing her own material with Americana duo Duffy & Bird and they released a well-received album ‘5 Lines’ in 2017 and a follow-up EP ‘Spirit Level’ in 2019.
Tricia’s solo project Little Lore was created in 2020 during the pandemic. Her debut solo EP, Little Lore, was released in 2021 to glowing reviews. The singles, ‘Shallow’, ‘Brown Liquor John’ and ‘Birds’ were released in 2022 to similar acclaim, followed by another equally well-received single ‘Normal’ in January 2023. An enthusiastic advocate for songwriters, she is the London Chapter Coordinator for NSAI (Nashville Songwriters Association International) and is especially passionate about creating opportunities for female, transgender and non-binary songwriters.
In her songs, Little Lore brings together an affection for the heart and heritage of Americana music, with an intelligence and maturity of storytelling that can sweep you away into new and unexpected emotional worlds.
Seven Stories (parts one and two): released 23rd February 2024
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The gripping tale of Little Lore: interview with Americana singer-storyteller, Tricia Duffy
Little Lore: the magical new project from UK Americana singer-storyteller Tricia Duffy
‘Normal’: a gorgeous slice of lush Americana – the new single from Little Lore
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