conversations with myself: a life-changing album

Aim

I’m making a 15-track studio album about recovery from rape—and I need your help to record it.

🎶 A Record of Rage, Release, and Recovery

I’m making a 15-track studio album about recovery from rape—and I need your help to record it.

This is a full sound production of 15 songs, with drums, bass, cello, violin, layered vocals, and ambient textures. I am crowdfunding to pay the brilliant team helping me bring it to life in the 12 studio days booked for January 2026.

...

Conversations with myself is a record of transformation. When I first tried to write about my experience of rape, the only words I could find were: “I can’t find a word that’s violent enough.” But in 2021, I began channelling unexpressed rage into song—and something shifted.

In writing about revenge, I could let go of it.
In writing about shameful thoughts, I could release them.
In sharing the songs, I found connection—with other survivors, with my Mum, my Grandma, my younger self.
I wrote about it all. By externalising my inner world, and listening to what the anger had to say for me, I wasn’t silenced by shame anymore. And again and again, I found empowerment.

(photo of Luce performing 'Prisoner' from the album at Islington Assembly Hall in 2021, looking suitably angry and passionate)

💰 Where Your Money Goes

This round of crowdfunding will pay for 12 studio days worth of:

Musicians’ day rates and expenses (£3,800)

Production & Engineering day rates (£4,800)

And crowdfunder platform fees and a tax buffer

Even if we don’t reach the target December, I will keep whatever we raise so please know: ANYTHING YOU GIVE WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE. 

I will be doing two more rounds of fund raising, with different methods (including fundraising events and applying for grants). For them, I will raise funds for post-production, delayed studio hire, mastering, album artwork and CD production. I will be sharing those 12 studio days with you - from behind the scenes - in January and hope I’ll have your continued support. 

(you will also fund an incredibly giddy, happy Lucy who, in this photo, is pinching herself to be in a "proper" studio. See on the lyric sheet: 'I'm doing it!')

🤝 Meet the Team

I’m working with a brilliant and generous team of collaborators:

• Studio & production:
  Grand Chapel Studios, Bedfordshire.
  Annaliese Shaw (producer)
  Roberto Sacco (engineer)
• Musicians
  Emma Holbrook (drums)
  Oscar Golding (bass)
  Midori Jaeger (cello)
  Robin Koob (violin)
  & Friends

Many have reduced their rates or volunteered time to support this project. I’m not paying myself a fee—but I do want to pay them.

Why this album matters

I’m Luce, a singer-songwriter from a little Cambridgeshire village. I write songs to process difficult moments and come out the other side intact—and maybe even a little wiser and more joyful.

In 2022, I released my debut EP Observational Writing, which featured 'Helium Balloon'—a track that raised awareness about dissociation and healing after sexual trauma. It helped fundraise for Cambridge Rape Crisis Centre and sparked conversations with survivors and supporters alike.

This new record is the most important thing I’ve ever made. Whenever I sing the songs, I have audience members disclose that they too have experienced sexual violence. This sharing is VITAL to recovery - we must create spaces free of shaming and victim-blaming where healing can take place. 

(photo of a sat down performance of 'I See You' from the album, with bandmates in 2022, headlining a show at Notting Hill Arts Club, London)

✍️ My Song Writing Process

I often started with a concept—an imagined moment or emotional question. For example: “What if he came to my doorstep in 20 years and apologised?” That became the song 'What Are You Doing?', where I moved through panic, anger, and finally, indifference. I realised I didn’t need his apology or even acknowledgement to heal. That shift helped me let go of the revenge narrative and reliance on his admittance to move forward—especially significant after my case was marked NFA (no further action) in 2020.

Another song began as a letter to my 17-year-old self. I tried to change how she saw it, to encourage her to seek support. But in the end, I realised: “I am who I am because of you.” That lyric helped me radically accept how I dealt with the rape at the time—and send her a message of love:
“I See You, come back to your body. I hear you, come back to your body.”

There are many songs on this album I know will support others, maybe even you, and inspire you to get a bit angry, seek support, and shed the skin of shame.

(photo of Luce presenting her research at the F-List Annual Conference at the University of Wolverhampton)

🎁 Rewards for You

I’ve created a range of rewards—from digital downloads and handwritten lyric sheets to song writing workshops, custom songs, and tickets to a special pre release show. Each one offers something meaningful, personal, and creatively rich.

💌 Join the Journey

I want this process to be meaningful. I don’t mind the challenges or the ups and downs—I just want connection. And I want to invite you in, so you’re there with me.

Thank you for reading, for supporting, and for believing in the power of music to heal.

Read more about my research

About Grand Chapel Studios

This project successfully funded on 14th December 2025