Lace Thief's Electrifying Debut: A Night of Art, Music, and Magic

Photo - Liv McCarthy

From the moment I walked into Rough Trade Nottingham, I knew this gig was going to be special. The room buzzed with excitement as the crowd eagerly awaited Lace Thief's first-ever full band show. A film created by Mantas Peleckis was projected onto a screen, and an art market featuring various stalls added an artistic touch to the venue. After soaking up the electric atmosphere, I grabbed a pint and headed over to the stage to see the main support band, Cracked Hands, play.

Support act: Cracked Hands

This unique duo really stands out with their own blend of performative poetry and tripped-out, hypnotic guitar rhythms. At times, Tom Hooley’s guitar sound reminded me of Durutti Column mixed with Neil Young & Crazy Horse at their most emotional, which perfectly complemented Milla Tebb’s deeply personal and emotive poetry, so confidently performed. A standout moment was when Milla mentioned this was her first gig since her recent surgery, highlighting her bravery, and a real testament to their artistry in crafting something so personal and sharing that with the crowd in such a powerful way.

Whilst watching, I couldn’t help but imagine how cool it could sound if they eventually added bass and drums to their band, or if Milla’s voice was put through a tape delay to make it even more psychedelic, but I quickly realised these two share a unique energy onstage. It works perfectly as a duo, which is always hard to pull off for any act. They each have their own style, which only serves to enhance the other—a rare thing to find. Hats off to them both—I look forward to hearing more from them in the future.

Lace Thief – Review

The show opened with a captivating spoken word poem, a perfect prelude to the set. It's rare to see a gig start that way, and it worked beautifully, flowing effortlessly into the next song, which upped the tempo with its melodic bassline reminiscent of Orange Juice. This is a band that has created its own sound, something genuinely hard to find nowadays. The guitarist's melodies and tone occasionally evoked Graham Coxon’s early work with Blur, and Laura Dickinson’s powerful vocals really blew the crowd away. She also created a brilliant energy in the room, cracking jokes and speaking confidently, as though they had been gigging for years. They played so tightly and solidly that it was hard to believe this was a band playing their first show together.

Standout tracks like 'Sister Of The North' and 'Nottingham' showcased Lace Thief's talent for crafting catchy, distinctive songs that each have their own style yet weave together perfectly, with pearlescent words sung over colourful synth lines and guitar riffs that lock into a solid-sounding rhythm section. They built a set that left the impressively huge crowd screaming for more. There was a huge variety of sounds covered, and I never lost my sense of intrigue and excitement throughout the show. Their setlist was perfectly crafted, almost like scenes in a movie, or like listening to a classic vinyl record.

The band's professionalism shone through in every aspect of the performance—from their cool-looking merch to the posters and promotion campaign they put together. They really stand out from the crowd, and it is obvious they are destined for great things. With all the hard work they clearly put in, they deserve it too! Lace Thief are definitely a band to watch, and I look forward to seeing their next show at Hockley Hustle at the Hockley Arts Club, 7.15pm.

Later that week, I went to Blend Café in Sneinton Market and spoke with the name behind Lace Thief, Laura Dickinson.

Sam:
Well done for that gig! You smashed it, everyone loved it. You got a huge crowd down—it was amazing! So, where did it all begin for you musically?

Laura:
I’ve always loved music, but this is going way, way back to the beginning! I don’t think anyone in my family has ever been that interested in it. I’ve never learnt an instrument properly—I had piano lessons way back. But I remember buying an iPod with 20p pieces from my pocket money. I was like, "I need some music!" I don’t think anyone understood how much I wanted to do this. I had piano lessons for a little bit, but I got a guitar when I was 21, so that was my first proper instrument after uni that I really wanted to play.

Sam:
So what made you first want to play guitar?

Laura:
I always wanted to sing and write songs. I don’t play any instrument well, but I play well enough to write something with it. I struggled with piano, so I felt like, well, loads of singer-songwriters have a guitar, and if I wanted to play at an open mic, I could take this guitar and sing a song. It was more of a way to facilitate the music; it was always a means to an end. I was never wowed by the sound of guitars!

Sam:
Yeah, it's way easier to carry a guitar than lugging a drum kit around or something. Guitarists are lucky like that!

Laura:
Yeah, so I started playing guitar and then got into poetry. I did a lot of spoken word and poetry slams.

Sam:
Did the poetry sprout from the music, or were you doing them separately at that point?

Laura:
I did them separately, but I got more into the poetry scene. During lockdown, I was too scared to perform, but when restrictions lifted slightly, there was this small window where I could do something socially distanced. That really pushed me to do an open mic while I had the chance, because lockdown could stop things again. So, yeah, and fast forward, here we are now!

Sam:
So you did open mics and acoustic solo stuff at that point?

Laura:
I mainly did poetry, with a few songs that blended poetry and music. After winning the Semantics Poetry Slam in Leicester, I started getting headline features at poetry nights, and I’d do three poems and then two songs that were half poetry, half music. I’ve never done a musical open mic—only poetry!

Sam:
How did your band come about? It seems like an evolution of the blend of poetry and music.

Laura:
I was in another band after that, an indie folk band called Smallish Giants. We had a couple of local festival bookings, but our guitarist got COVID, and it all fell apart. I didn’t enjoy organising people, so I made the creative decision to start writing my own music.

Sam:
Sometimes, all you need is that creative freedom. Was that the beginning of Lace Thief? Did the band come together over time, or was it assembled all at once?

Laura:
At performances, people would ask if I had anything recorded yet, which I didn’t, so I went to the studio and recorded one song—just so I had something on Spotify. It was a song called "Doorways," and I recorded it at Mount Street Studios. That’s where I met Matt, our producer, who introduced me to the rest of the future Lace Thief lineup. Matt played all the instruments on that recording, and Catherine, who plays synth in Lace Thief, was interning as a studio assistant. Over the next year and a half, we worked on what eventually became the first Lace Thief album. The studio was great—no windows, no distractions. You could just focus entirely on the music, like being in your own world!

The writing side comes from me, and Matt helps build around it and produces it properly. It became very collaborative, which is good. I’d bring scraps of paper to Matt, and he’d help arrange it, adding elements to expand the sound. Catherine did the synth, and by the end of each session, we’d have a complete song. Eventually, I decided I wanted a name for the project, so we could perform as a full band or as a solo show, which gave us a lot of flexibility.

Sam:
So, is the album fully recorded and ready to release? I can’t wait to hear it!

Laura:
The album’s called Inheritance. We’ve released the title track and Sister Of The North, our most recent single. The plan is to release four singles before the full album comes out next summer. There are 12 tracks, including a poem—the one we started the gig with.

Sam:
What would you say are your inspirations for the sound? It's very unique, and I really like it!

Laura:
When I brought the first song into the studio, Matt asked for reference tracks, but I didn’t want to sound like anyone else! I listen to a lot of Youth Lagoon, especially their album Year of Hibernation. I love their layered sound, and I wanted to add my own twist with vocals on top. Matt suggested I listen to Beach House, who I hadn’t heard before, and they’re amazing. I was also inspired by Soko, who leans more into singer-songwriter territory. Those are probably the three main influences for Lace Thief.

Sam:
Are you all from Nottingham? I loved your song Nottingham!

Laura:
I’m from Nottingham, and so are a couple of the band members. We’re all part of a bigger project called Local Honey, which exclusively works with Midlands-based artists. There will be exhibitions and shows as part of that, so yeah, everyone involved has a connection to the Midlands. I think we need to champion what we have here, rather than centralising everything in London.

Sam:
How long have you been together as a band? You seemed so solid onstage.

Laura:
We’d only met all together twice before the show!

Sam:
That’s amazing! You were so tight onstage. How did you feel up there?

Laura:
It’s cool because, even though we haven’t been together much as a full group, we’ve all gotten to know each other as friends and through music, so it felt great onstage!

Sam:
I also noticed how professional your gig was—you had cool merch and posters everywhere. Does that come naturally to you?

Laura:
That’s from my background in fashion communication. I know how to run a campaign for clothes, so I applied that to music. I’ve always been interested in the crossover between fashion and music. To me, they’re the same thing!

Sam:
What’s your next show? When can we next watch Lace Thief perform?

Laura:
I’ll be playing a solo acoustic set at 7:15 pm at the Hockley Arts Club for Hockley Hustle! Our next single, Blood Is Thicker Than Honey, comes out on the 9th of November.

Sam:
That’s my birthday! It’s a present for me! I can’t wait to hear it.

Laura:
Yeah, for sure! It’s going to be part of a short art film screening at Savoy Cinema, where the music video will be shown alongside other Midlands-based art, music, and fashion films.

Sam:
That’s brilliant! It sounds like a bit of an Andy Warhol vibe. I love how you’re blending all these styles together.

Laura:
Yeah, it’s like an exhibition. For every track on the album, a different artist has created artwork inspired by the song. The fold-out poster was made by artist Gemma Vincent. Eventually, you’ll be able to collect all the artwork as a visual album, alongside the music!

Sam:
That’s amazing! I can see how much thought you’ve put into all of this.

Editor: We really can’t wait for the album!