Everyone who has used the internet in the last twenty years, have come across Hunter S. Thompson`s quote about the TV and film industry circulated in the form of a meme. “The TV business is uglier than most things” – it goes – “It is normally perceived as some kind of cruel and shallow money trench through the heart of the journalism industry, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs, for no good reason”. These two immortal sentences are often believed to be about the music industry. And can you blame people? With lack of any standards, corruption, sexual assaults and artists actually dying ahead of their time, working in our industry often feels like trying to survive a teen slasher. Only around every corner instead of axe murderers, you encounter predatory contracts, dubious or creepy personnel and industry plants that live on another planet. I hit 45 this Halloween and the median life span of an A&R (due to work related stress) is 49, what an actual fun!
Single cover by Patheticgirl
Official bio: Tapwaterlucy is a self-made singer-songwriter, producing most of her songs herself or with close friends. Her music is emotionally penned as she challenges typical norms and stereotypes with a comedic and optimistic look at what she wants to see in the future.
Jokes aside, this industry is not for the weak of character. If there are individuals who can make it alive out of the trials and turbulences, they need to be level-headed, working on their own and having a detailed plan of what they want to achieve. In other words: they need to be real life equivalents of a `final girl` – a central cliché of every horror flick. If you are not familiar with the trope, it is the last standing character who takes on the mass murderer and often wins. You know, Sally Hardesty in Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Laurie Strode in the Halloween series.
I have a feeling that Lucy Kevil aka TapWaterLucy is one of those artists that may win in the music industry, as if it was a game. She may even thrive here, despite all the pitfalls and dangers. Lucy is definitely DIY, self-producing her tracks or working in collaboration with friends. She is highly educated (grades in musical theatre and classical music, diploma in music production), she works at Abbey Studios Institute and is part of LOUD LND – a collective of female and non- binary artists in the capital.
As stated, before she has a vision of what she wants and she has tools to make it happen. If I was some pseudo progressive dude -bro hell bent on destroying female talent, I`d seriously quake in my boots at the very thought of Lucy Kevil.
To date, TapWaterLucy released three singles: “High and Dry”, “Loveblind” and “Speed Dial”. Her current offering “The Final Girl” will herald an arrival of a 5 track EP (to be released in 2025) for which she secured funding from Help Musicians.
Her music was described as jazz and doo-wop inspired pop. But don`t look at Lucy Kevil as new gen Amy Winehouse. It is more CeCe Peniston meets Laura Branigan. Her voice is stunning and correct me if I am wrong (but I was a choir member so I am not wrong) she must go between 4/5 octaves and above. And she moves with ease between jazzy pop, soul and electronic or synth orientated 80s bangers. There is something alluring in encountering such talented and unconventional artists that you cannot squeeze into a box.
Lucy as The Final Girl by Patheticgirl
It is a hard path that Watertaplucy decided to walk. Ambitious music was never truly appreciated even in the 1980s but these days it is made uncommercial on purpose. This industry strangles any creativity and stamps on any musician that practices any form of music that is not autotuned crap with twenty producers and ten lyric writers. When I was growing up Lucy would be regularly appearing on the radio and would do a tour or two with Irene Cara. She would have dedicated fan clubs in Japan and East Germany and few guest appearances on “Dynasty”.
Laugh all you want but forty years ago every respectable label had several artists of this calibre and they had long careers, sometimes like Sandra or Kym Wilde making it into the mainstream. These women shaped the era in many more ways than Madonna and were comfortably existing in the space between being indie and pop stars.
I am listening to “The Final Girl” and it is not just a great retro single. It feels properly cinematic. I can easily imagine Lucy Kevil being the lead of an 80s thriller, where she takes on some evil individual. Probably played by David Carradine or Cary Hiroyuki Tagawa. You`d go to your local VHS rental and put your name on a long list of people who requested the movie tape before you, complaining that all your school mates had already seen it. But at least there would be a new issue of Bravo with a long interview with Lucy and an A4 poster to cheer you up. The poster – I don’t have to tell you – would land on your wall stuck to the wallpaper with a Sellotape.
I miss the times where artists could be original and bubbly and were paying crazy attention to details on their songs that you could only catch when listening with the headphones on. I encourage you to listen to “The Final Girl” this way, savour the creepy intro and the scream at the very beginning before the main vocals kicks in. These are the little things that made me fall in love with the music. Not sold-out stadiums with dynamic pricing and photo books that leave nothing to the imagination. Best, most creative music was always entwined with a personal connection between fan and the artist, supported by a chain of small clubs, music press that covered new artists, videos and radio airplays. Don`t get me wrong, there was a load of shit back in the day, I am not gonna be mythologizing here and putting on rose tinted glasses. But there was an ecosystem in place that worked and kept artists profitable. This is gone now. Can I use the word that this ecosystem was murdered?
Yet suddenly on the scorched ground, this creative wasteland in 2024 Lucy Kervil proclaims that she worked too hard, invested too much to lie down and die. So, get your men and get your weapons – she insists – try to catch her. She will come on top.
Maybe it is me who is wrong here. The final girl started out as a sexist stereotype but ended as an archetype of female empowerment. We now have movies dedicated to the phenomenon: the dark comedy “The Final Girls” from 2015 and series of psychological dramas (X, Pearl and Maxxxine), bestselling series of board games from Van Ryder and countless songs on the subject (from Chvrches to Slotface).
The Final Girl applying lipstick by Patheticgirl
Maybe pop culture is fighting back and we will come back from this dark time swinging, alive and stronger than ever. Perhaps there is something prophetic in the series of promotional images to the single taken by Saffy Paget that show Lucy Kevil correcting her makeup using a knife as a hand mirror, while being splashed head to toe with somebody’s blood? I`ll be frank with you, seeing those images felt very satisfying when you think of a few creepers you know from this industry and I guarantee you that every female can name a dude that makes her murderous.
On the other hand, maybe I read too much into the visual side of the song. Lucy`s has a handprint on her jeans – a sign symbolizing murdered and missing indigenous women across The Americas. Maybe that’s also a sign of solidarity – the bros in the music business and in the wider society can’t kill us all. Some of us will remain. Defiance has always been our weapon.
“The Final Girl” was released on Halloween. It was produced by Morten Bergholt and mixed/mastered by Thomas Briggz, both fellow alumni of Abbey Road Institute.
Big Thank you to Laviea Thomas for introducing me to Watertaplucy. You know how to cheer me up with good music. I owe you at least a good lunch.
You can follow Lucy on the socials:
https://tapwaterlucy.com/press
https://www.instagram.com/tapwaterlucy
https://www.facebook.com/people/Tapwaterlucy/100071733559912
https://x.com/tapwaterlucy
https://www.tiktok.com/@tapwaterlucy
https://soundcloud.com/user-634744302
https://www.youtube.com/@tapwaterlucyvevo466
https://open.spotify.com/artist/6UGpIlVlus84h0Trxew7fp?si=lNY88pQQSVmqNjiRRyjobg
Further reading:
https://plasticmag.co.uk/2024/10/tapwaterlucy-releases-new-single-the-final-girl
https://shebops.net/tapwaterlucy-the-final-girl
https://www.wepluggoodmusic.com/wpgm-commentary-tapwaterlucy-feeds-her-creative-ego-on-the-final-girl
Malicia Dabrowicz
Indieterria 
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