Hungry Lucy is usually described as being Trip-hop or even Darkwave, yet the six tracks on their creative commons licensed EP, Before We Walk…We Crawl are primarily acoustic with piano, guitar, strings, woodwinds, percussion and only a hint of electronic instruments. The artists have made what they describe as a “stripped down” release focusing on the emotional power of the band and its vocalist, Christa Belle.

And what a nice experiment it is. I admit I have not heard Hungry Lucy on their commercial CDs, yet this EP has a naturally beautiful sound. Ms. Belle has a voice that easily wraps itself around the lyrics and the exquisite arrangements. She reminds me very much of Sia, an artist I’ve only recently discovered. As a whole, Hungry Lucy sports a sound that can be compared to Lamb or Blonde Redhead. The album consists of three new tunes and three older songs that were remade for this particular endeavor. They are all good but I find the opening “A Girl Alone” and the live unplugged version of “Fearful” to be the standouts. This get a highly recommended from yours truly.

The album is available fromThe Internet Archive in formats of FLAC, WAV, Ogg Vorbis, or MP3. This lovely but addictive EP is a bit short at 24 minutes so, if you like the music, the antidote is to support the artist by buying their CDs.

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