Lucid Letters flips the script with a sharp & playful single, “Briefcase”
Thriving on its own contradictions, turning “perceived” limitations into strengths, she’s managed to crack the code here. That’s exactly what Lucid Letters achieves with “Briefcase,” a clever and confident self-aware single that plants its flag at the intersection of 90’s hip hop homage and pop vision. It’s bold, stylish, and loaded with personality, making the kind of track that makes you lean in, and then keep replaying because it’s just that addictive.
Lucid Letters, the musical alter ego of Fleetwood, Lancashire-born singer, songwriter, and producer Caryl Archer, has spent over two decades navigating multiple genres, from house to R&B to hip hop. But with “Briefcase,” she strips everything down to a statement of intent, and it’s a hell of an introduction to her upcoming concept album CHAOS ERA. At just two and a half minutes, the track doesn’t waste a second, laying out her thesis with playful precision. Yes, she’s a middle-aged white woman from a northern fishing town with no hip hop pedigree and, as she quips, “zero swag”, but that’s exactly what makes the song work. It simply proves that when you put your mind and creativity to it, you can pull off just about anything.
What could read as parody instead lands as reinvention. The beat snaps with a clean, throwback sensibility, but it’s her vocal delivery that elevates the track. There’s a sharpness and wit in her flow, an understated confidence that sidesteps mimicry in favor of carving her own lane. Background vocals shimmer in the mix, adding a heavenly lift that balances the grit of her bars with a sense of sly grandeur.
More than anything, “Briefcase” feels like a declaration of independence. It proves that the rules of authenticity in hip hop, often policed with definitions, can bend when vision and execution are this sharp. Lucid Letters isn’t trying to be something she’s not. She’s fully herself, and in doing so, makes a track that’s both hip hop and something else entirely. It’s a stylish, self-possessed pop statement with swagger all its own. With flying colors, she had us hooked within the first 30 seconds!
If this is the opening shot of CHAOS ERA, then Lucid Letters is about to unleash something special. “Briefcase” isn’t just a fun detour, it’s the sound of an artist walking confidently into uncharted territory, briefcase in hand, ready to disrupt the system.
Like everything else we’ve reviewed from her, we’ve quickly become fans, and this isn’t any different. Go ahead and give it a spin for yourselves by clicking those links below. Enjoy!
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