Luvcat may have burst onto the scene in all her harlequin-chequered, stiletto-heeled glory less than two years ago, but Liverpool-born Sophie Morgan Howarth’s musical history runs much deeper. At the age of 16, she caught the attention of The Verve’s bassist Simon Jones while singing at a wedding, and was subsequently invited to record with him in his studio. Ten years and three solo EPs later, she launched her circus-freak-cum-seductress alter ego. Due to drop on October 31st, Luvcat’s eagerly anticipated debut LP arrives just in time to haunt us for Halloween 2025.
Luvcat’s character is playfully coquettish and flirtatious without ever falling into weakness or submission. With an unabashed, borderline maniacal undertone and overt sexual requests, she plants herself firmly in the driver’s seat. On brand with its release date, the album’s opening track ‘Lipstick’ features eerie instrumentals with animalistic howling and screeching, as the lyrics flash through a plethora of dress-up options: a cowboy, a stewardess, a bedside nurse. While it may read like a ‘Halloween costume ideas’ Pinterest board, the underlying meaning is much more sinister. Luvcat paints herself as a deeply insecure love interest willing to contort herself into any role that will satisfy her partner’s standards, wrapped up in a disguise of lustful roleplay. The track is as violently threatening as it is sexually suggestive, with Luvcat promising to strangle any potential love rivals with their blonde pigtails. Let it never be said that the line between love and limerence isn’t dangerously thin.
Woven throughout the album’s lyrics are intimate references to Liverpool, Howarth’s hometown, and London, where she found her base as an artist. The listening experience is a theatrical reenactment of her rags-to-riches journey from the hospital on Liverpool’s infamous Smithdown Road to dining at Soho’s Brasserie Zédel. Luvcat pays homage to her influential Merseyside hometown in the title track, referencing the iconic street Penny Lane of Beatles-linked fame with its throngs of ‘Afghan coat groupies.’ Track 9 introduces a vicarious exploration of the two halves of Howarth’s world in the form of the disjointed character ‘Emma Dilemma’: ‘Half of her’s in Manchester, half of her’s in Spain / Emma Dilemma’s in trouble again.’
The track reaches full-blown psychological horror level in the twisted love song ‘He’s My Man.’ Portraying a lowly housewife with a visceral need for her partner that goes way beyond healthy, and several suspicious hints that she may be slipping something untoward in his dinner, the track is seriously eerie. The duet version featuring fellow North West legend John Cooper-Clarke is creepier still; the punk poet’s iconic monotone drawl pitted against Luvcat’s dramatic soprano make for a lethal combination.
‘The Kazimier Garden’ – whose title itself is another reference to a slice of Liverpudlian heritage – is a brief but powerful interlude, with spoken-word murmurings in a distinctively Scouse accent over head-spinning distorted violins. It opens up for a more mellow, tranquil final quarter of the album, where Luvcat questions loyalties and confronts looming ‘What ifs in a series of candid ballads. The almighty bridge of ‘Blushing’ comes crashing down with references to McDonald’s, circus freaks and Ferris wheels all in the same breath, unravelling Luvcat’s deepest insecurities both as a lover and a performer. ‘Bad Books’ is a final burst of sultry jazz perfection, which pulls out the glamour from the mundane everyday in a way that only Amy Winehouse has managed before.
Luvcat will debut tracks from ‘Vicious Delicious’ on her upcoming tour, headlining venues throughout the UK, Europe and North America in November and December. Buy tickets here.
