luvcat

Belwood Music Awards 2025

/ James Fenney

As we look back on another year rapidly fading in the rearview mirror, it’s time to cap off our Listmas celebrations with one last round-up of the best that the music world had to offer these past twelve months. Thank you to everyone who has supported the site, and new music in general, this past year, and my utmost love and appreciation goes out to all the artists who have shared their work with us all. With the last few hours of 2025 rapidly ticking away, let’s take a final look at its highlights before we ring in the new year. Continue reading →

Top Ten Albums of 2025

/ James Fenney

Though 2025 had its fair share of misfires and disappointments, a few high points rose out of the gloom to stand tall and proud. Musical highlights that made the year than bit brighter and more wondrous. Records that resonated in the back of my mind, that sparked an inferno of excitement in my veins right from first pressing play, that kept me coming back time and again for another helping. It’s time for this year’s Listmas celebrations to reach their grand crescendo as take a look back at the very best albums of the past twelve months. Continue reading →

Top Ten Videos of 2025

/ James Fenney

My favourite end-of-year list to compile changes every given year, but 2025 certainly feels like an exceptional year for music videos. I’ve adored revisiting so many different unique, inventive and entertaining visuals, many of which still feel fresh and exciting many months down the line. I truly think this is our strongest crop of videos to date, many of which could well have been worthy winners in their own right had the timing been a little different. So before we dive into the best music of the past year, let’s first feast our eyes on 2025’s most arresting visuals. Continue reading →

Top Ten Songs of 2024

/ James Fenney

You join us now as we kick this year’s Listmas celebrations up a gear by delving into our favourite songs of 2024. Be they chart topping singles or overlooked deep cuts, these are the tracks that had me coming back time after time. The songs that have been on repeat in my head for months on end. The tracks with the most astonishing “wow” moments which left me speechless, as well as those that had me singing along the loudest. Without further ado, let’s look back on the best songs that soundtracked 2024. Continue reading →

Top Ten Videos of 2024

/ James Fenney

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then imagine the kind of story you can tell with thousands of them in motion. With that philosophy in mind, a truly great music video can elevate a song to new heights, and sometimes even transcend beyond the song itself to become an iconic work of art in its own right. Whether echoing big budget cinema, or built from the ground up with nothing but ingenuity and elbow grease, there’s been no shortage of memorable visuals this year. So, before we delve into our favourite music of 2024, let’s take a moment to celebrate the best videos of the past twelve months. Continue reading →

Live Review: Luvcat, Deaf Institute Manchester, 11th Nov 2024

/ James Fenney

There’s a deeply tempting magic attached to the idea of fresh starts. When you move to a new place, strike up a conversation with a stranger, and it dawns on you that their entire perception of you hinges on what you say and do next. Everyone you meets knows a different version of you, and every first meeting is a blank state to create the ideal version of who you want to be. Belwood favourite Sophie Morgan took that idea and ran with it when crafting her new alter ego Luvcat. Her new project pairs the romantic allure of a smoky jazz club with the dark gothic storytelling of Nick Cave, Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen – with a hearty dash of playfulness and theatricality thrown in for good measure. Luvcat’s beguiling mystique has clearly captured people’s imaginations, as the project’s popularity and influence has been racing like wildfire in just the past year. Fresh off the continent, having just supported The Last Dinner Party across Europe, I caught Luvcat on the first stop of her debut UK headline tour for a bewitching night of mystery and mischief. Continue reading →

Top Tracks: Luvcat – He’s My Man

/ James Fenney

I adore a good murder ballad. The sinister storytelling, carving out a clear identity for some villainous character, a wicked darkness that feeds the part of your brain that delights in morbid curiosity. It’s a time honoured tradition which nonetheless manages to feel underexplored; all the more reason to champion one of the rare shining examples when it strolls so magnetically into the spotlight. Having already begun to curate a seductively gothic sound with the sublime debut single ‘Matador’, Luvcat play to their strengths beautifully by weaving that same darkness into a bewitching murder ballad. With a soft western twang as rich and heady as a fine red wine backing up Sophie Morgan’s velveteen vocals, ‘He’s My Man’ tells the tale of of an obsessive housewife slowly poisoning her husband to ensure that he stays by her side forever. Whatever captivating concoction Luvcat have poured into this track has left me unable to leave its side also. Combining the fervent fanaticism of Annie Wilkes from Misery, with a beguiling air of twisted romanticism, ‘He’s My Man’ is a sterling sophomore outing for this entrancing ensemble.

Top Tracks: Luvcat – Matador

/ James Fenney

The romantics among us hold firm to their faith that the sheer force of love can move mountains. We know our own hearts, we know how deep the well of devotion and passion inside runs. Yet not all hearts are created equal, and some will remain closed and empty despite all our best efforts to spark something within. ‘Matador’ plays as a cautionary tale about how hoping your love will be enough to fix or change someone will only lead to you getting hurt by their games. Instead of smoothing away the rough edges of a person that isn’t right for you, like a river eroding stone, those sharp edges just keep cutting deeper the harder you try to hold on. This stunning debut single from Luvcat, the new project from Belwood favourite Sophie Morgan, pairs plaintive soulful romanticism with a dash of Nick Cave-esque gothic macabre. With an off kilter beat that reminds me a little of ‘Stagger Lee’, ‘Matador’ superbly uses its evocative lyricism and Sophie’s ever alluring vocals to weave a graphic tragedy about a love gone to waste.