If you’ve been following JOVM for the better part of this year, you may be familiar with the Australian-born, London-based singer/songwriter Lucy Mason. Initially influenced by No Doubt, Smashing Pumpkins, The Cranberries and Radiohead, Mason learned the guitar when she had turned 13 and after finishing school in her native Australia, the up-and-coming singer/songwriter returned to the UK and quickly found herself touring with fellow singer/songwriters Matt Corby and Josh Kumra on UK tours. And adding to a growing national profile across the UK, Mason won the UK Songwriting Contest with “Sirens,” which established her as one of England’s best, up-and-coming songwriters. 

Mason’s latest single “Seas of Grey” will further cement her reputation for pairing a sparse electronic production – in this case, slowly cascading and echoing synths, room-filling drums and ambient electronics to create a sound that’s both atmospheric and packed with rousing hooks – with her effortlessly beautiful vocals that remind me so much of Dido. It may arguably be the most 80s synth pop-inspired song Mason has released to date, as it has an anthemic, arena-friendly feel but comes from a deeply personal place. Certainly, at the heart of the song is the narrator’s determination to leave a seemingly self-destructive, attention-seeking lover behind for good – and in some way, the description of the lover will sound much like someone you know; hell, I can definitely say that I knew someone exactly like that lover.