If you’ve not caught the release of the three teaser singles from this EP, now’s the time to catch up.

But first, if you’re on the Lucky Iris kick you can skip this paragraph If the duo are new to you; here’s a brief intro. Lucky Iris are a duo from Leeds. Maeve and Jasper, who make carefully crafted thoughtful and sometimes thought provoking alt-pop songs sprinkled with wonderful hints of the 80s and 90s. Their songs are about life right now. Oh, and they come with attitude to spare.

The EP opens with ‘23’ which refers to the year 2023, and reaching the age of 23. It talks about the hopes and dreams of becoming an adult and realising that all the things you dreamt of are still out of reach – owning a cat, a nice house, a good job. Essentially wanting to be what you wanted to be by then. I’m sadly way past that part of my life, but it still resonates with me, I get the feeling.

Musically the track does that quiet/louder alt-electropop thing in a very 80s and 90s kinda way. While the track is obviously very carefully constructed – with some frankly surprising sprinklings of sounds – it has more than a hint of bedroom pop about it. It makes the track sound like an internal dialogue, a series of thoughts and reflections and life.

Continuing their mission of delivering great pop with meaningful words ‘oh no (i guess i did it again)’ tackles the ugly reality of following the beautiful game for women and LGBTQIA+ supporters. Maeve explains “When you think football fan, you probably don’t think of me… but that’s the issue I think. Football has always been pushed as an inclusive sport, crossing so many barriers, an unspoken language to many, THE beautiful game. Except there are barriers… for women and queer people alike. I’ve done my hours of listening to every football podcast I could get my hands on but still when I opened my mouth people didn’t want to hear it. Enter ‘oh no (i guess i did it again)’ referencing me giving my many seemingly unwanted opinions on all things football, to people who really didn’t want to hear it. At all”.

While you may not think this is the basis of a great dance-y alt-pop song, you’d be wrong. It comes with a fabulous driving beat that compels you to throw, some, frankly embarrassing in my case, shapes. An electro pop-punk sound that is addictive. Fantastic.

‘blowing kisses’ has ticked my Summer pop track checklist since it was released. This isn’t, as you might have thought, an irresistible shake your stuff sort of track, but something that makes you sway in a happy way, want to hum or sing along. If I was reaching for a music reviewer cliche, the one to reach for is hook laden; one listen and it’s there in your head. The tune is so earwormy.The delicate breathy vocals shimmer over a dreamy ethereal wash of sounds.

There is something wistful, something with an edge of longing in the sound that reflects the song’s subject. I’ll let the band explain ‘I overheard someone say; ‘a crush is just a lack of information’, and I just couldn’t get that out of my head – but I refuse to see a crush as just that because it just takes all the fun out of it, doesn’t it?! ‘blowing kisses’ is about having a crush. It’s about that point where it turns into something more, because unlike that stranger implied, the more information you learn about your crush, the more you end up falling for them. It’s about hanging on every word they say, being out and only being able to see them. And when they say your name, that feeling you get each time, it’s like the first time anyone has ever said your name… I guess it’s an ‘if you know you know’ feeling… if you do you’ll understand and if not, know it’s a precious song about being desperate to know what that other person is thinking’.

‘blowing kisses’ is still my Summer song, gorgeous stuff.

‘maybe i’m too much’ is the track we haven’t heard, and boy was it worth waiting for. Breathy vocals float over fantastic sounds that go from ethereal to beat-y. Surprising sounds thrill. Every listen, you hear something new – another pop of sound, another layer of sound.

Lyrically it does that Lucky Iris internal dialogue thing. It seems to be about self-doubt and relationships. And, I’ve said this before, I can relate, we all can relate.

I hope you’ve got the message, Luck Iris make great classic, made with care, alt-pop. They write songs that are rooted in the personal and yet at the same time are about things that we can all relate to, and that doesn’t happen by accident; the duo are fantastic songwriters. And this is the beauty of their music, the thing that makes their music rise above.

This EP is so good, so fantastic; proving, if we need that proof, that Luck Iris are the real fantastic thing, and make beautiful music.

In contrast to their last release ‘eat me up’, a sassy dance-y summery pop track – ‘too long’ is a dreamy thoughtful song. That’s dreamy in sound, and thoughtful in song topic.

Re-reading that I realise that that’s a little vague; I mean dreamy could mean anything, or many things to many people. So I will try to be clearer. It manages to pull off being both simple and sparse, and hugely atmospheric, brilliantly. I’ve said it before, and will probably say it again, that simple is difficult to do; there’s nothing to hide behind. What makes this track is the vocal. I searched for a long time for way to describe it but my helpful friend came to my rescue; she described it as naked and emotionally out there. I’d add that the whole song sounds like an internal dialogue.

This seems like the right time to let Su explain what the song is about, “‘Too Long’ is a track that was written about wondering how much longer you can keep running. It’s about questioning what even matters anymore and who’s still around to care. It’s about understanding your self doubt and allowing yourself to move with the pain. I think its a common thing to question why you’re still at a party that you can’t remember arriving at. You have just got to keep going; otherwise what’s the point?”

The thing about Su, I Think is that their songs tackle the personal and difficult emotions and thoughts we carry with us, and marry this with music that compliments, sonically communicates and is just so right.

‘too long’ then is a deceptively simple song that compels musically and emotionally, that chimes with the experiences that many of us have had. And is almost painfully honest lyrically. In a word, lovely.

There are times when I am so thankful that I review things for LSF, and this is one of them. You see it’s just unlikely I would have ever had heard ‘sad’ if I didn’t, and somehow without knowing why my life would be missing something.

It sounds like a mix of things; dream pop, a hint of shoegaze, late 70s DIY music of the wider post-punk scene and torch song ballads of the late 50s and 60s. The last may have had you reeling in confusion, it may have left you thinking that I have lost any knowledge of music I may have had. But I’m sticking to that; just listen to those times when the music swells in wrung out emotion.

It sounds almost overwhelmingly sad, it’s drenched with a melancholic feeling that is mesmerising. There is a delicacy to the sound; it goes from whisper quiet to big musical swell in a kind of magical way. Look I know objectively that this is arrangement, songwriting and playing, but let’s not get bogged down in those when there’s this beautiful ethereal sound to take us where it will.

I guess I’m under some sort of music reviewer compulsion to say something about the individual parts of the sound. And I will confine my response to saying that the vocals are achingly beautiful and drip with a kind of understated emotion. And the playing is all about conveying emotion, telling a story, and doing that wonderfully.

You have probably reached the conclusion sometime before now that with a song called ‘sad’ that sounds sad, the song is about something sad; and of course it is. shaene explains “‘sad’ is about being lodged in a deep depression, convinced that everybody would be better off without you around.” Because I can, I have reproduced the words of the song below.

This is a wonderful song. A song that conveys a king of quiet desperation and sadness in a way that sounds so painfully rea. It’s that sense of reality that makes it so compelling and beautiful.

The info

‘sad’ is taken from shaene’s debut album ‘time lost / time regained’ due 01/09/2023.

Having spent years writing and performing in a host of seasoned DIY bands across Yorkshire, Leeds-based songwriter shaene shares the first offering from her eponymous emo project, ‘sad’. As the lead single from her debut album “time lost / time regained”, it offers a poignant look at the emotions underpinning the writing of the album.

Having already supported acts like Lande Hekt, and M(H)aol, whilst also being deeply embedded into the Leeds DIY community before releasing any music, their album lands at a time where the project has its resolute identity formed.

The words

I’m a waste
Of energy
Of anything good
And if everyone knew
I would be glad

Cos I’m sick and tired
Of feeling this way
But I’ll probably stay
Sad for a while

So don’t talk to me
And then you’ll be glad
That you stayed away
‘cause I am poison

Live Dates:

9th September – Leeds – Hyde Park Book Club

Aah, those purveyors of carefully crafted songs, Sandra’s Wedding. A band who can always be trusted to produce the goods – tunes to die for, words that deserve a second (or third or fourth) listen and musicianship (Is that a word? You know what I mean) that can’t be faulted.

With the opening track, ‘The Hopeful Boy Replacement Service’, you know what you’re going to get from the album – classy songs with words that come with a touch of something that’s going to make you smile. Musically the song comes with these touches of special things that lift it above. It may sound like the average acoustic driven song that sits somewhere in the pop area, but wait a minute, listen to that lush as you want production and layers of sound.

The thing about Sandra’s Wedding is that they have the capacity to surprise, to shift gears. They do this with ‘Rum Life’; a song that sits – in a very good way – in the intersection of Squeeze and 60s’ pop. Yep there’s a catchy tune and those great words but there’s also some really unexpected off-kilter organ.

With ‘French Girls’ the band slip into something that comes with a touch of art-rock, a hint of West Coast Yacht Rock – big chorus and harmonies. It’s weird and it throws you for a moment. ‘The Post-Disneyland Blues’ comes over all wonderfully 80s’ soft rock while – as you can see from the title – the words are not at all 80s’ soft rock. It ever has the classic vocal and piano dropout ending. Lovely.

If you can imagine The Housemartins doing a cross between a vaguely early 60s pop peppered with the strangest synth stabs and the odd out there guitar solo, then this is ‘Laughing My Head Off’. While this may sound way too confusing musically, it isn’t, strangely it all makes sense.

Following this is one of my fav tracks ‘The Running Joke’. Beautiful vocals, a gorgeous cascade of picked guitar. A feeling that it is going to blast off at one point but doesn’t, and that’s the wonderful thing.

Another fav is ‘For The Benefit Of The Tape’; a voice and piano ballad, a big ballad. What this song is about, and I promise you I’ve tried to work it out, I have not the slightest idea but that will come at some point, suddenly I’ll get it. Until then there’s this beautiful song, a song I have grown addicted to.

The album closes with ‘The Berlin Wall & Other Stories’. This is the epitome of the big album closer. A song that builds musically, that starts wistfully and becomes bigger and more insistent. It builds again, passing through something that you just MUST listen to to believe, and ends with so-so gentle guitar. It’s utterly lovely, and I have fallen for it big time.

I expected this album to be outstanding, and it was BUT it was better than I expected. With every release from the band there is something that is unexpected. In this case, it’s something I can’t exactly put my finger on, it’s not one thing it’s a whole load of what sports coaches call marginal gains.

Look, if you love carefully crafted clever songs with great tunes that sit somewhere in pop, this album is for you. These are songs that are not flashy, they are just wonderful songs that quietly impress you, get into your head and compel you to listen again and again.

Buy Vinyl: https://sandraswedding.bandcamp.com/album/the-hopeful-boy-replacement-service

Buy CD: https://subjangle.bandcamp.com/album/sandras-wedding-the-hopeful-boy-replacement-service

I know this came out a while ago but, for reasons way too complex to explain here, I’m only just getting round to a review now. Better late than never, I guess.

The thing I love about Cliche Cult is that I can depend on them, their releases always have something new, always impress.

‘Race Against The Time’ is a big, no I should say huge, indie song. And when I say huge, I mean arena huge. It does that achingly emotional verse, big chorus thing to perfection. Need I say more? Well, yes I do. It comes with great words, very much a Cliche Cult trademark. It also comes with some frankly jaw-droppingly good guitar.

The band, as you might know, like to surprise, and that comes with ‘Sweet Therapy’. This starts with a line that comes straight out of some spooky post-punk song, a sound that sits somewhere between that Echo and The Bunnymen sound they do and something that weirdly reminds me of New Model Army, and then seamlessly becomes, what I’m going to call, muscular indie rock. But, not only is this brilliant musically, but lyrically it’s chillingly good. It explores, if I’ve interpreted the words correctly, a journey through mental health issues and therapy. And it does this in a personal and deeply meaningful way.

Look I’ve said more about ‘Sweet Therapy’ than what the band have marked as the lead song ‘Race Against The Time’ not because it’s better. It’s just that ‘Race Against…’ is simply a fantastic song, and I don’t need to say more about it than that really. Whereas ‘Sweet Therapy’ is a more complex song both musically and lyrically.

This is a frankly wonderful pair of songs that, far from marking the band out as promising (honest, this is what their promo email says), marks them out as a band that have reached where their early singles indicated, and are charging up the next step.

This is a must listen, without question. And that’s an order.

.

I don’t know about you but when July comes around, bringing the heat of Summer, my thoughts turn to pop. And, you know me by now don’t you, that pop has to be perfect.

‘blowing kisses’ has ticked that Summer checklist for me. This isn’t, as you might have thought, an irresistible shake your stuff sort of track, but something that makes you sway in a happy way, want to hum or sing along. If I was reaching for a music reviewer cliche, the one to reach for is hook laden; one listen and it’s there in your head. The tune is so earwormy.The delicate breathy vocals shimmer over a dreamy ethereal wash of sounds. And you’d expect those sounds to be so-so beautifully crafted – it’s a Luck Iris trademark – and they are.

There is something wistful, something with an edge of longing in the sound that reflects the song’s subject. I’ll let the band explain ‘I overheard someone say; ‘a crush is just a lack of information’, and I just couldn’t get that out of my head – but I refuse to see a crush as just that because it just takes all the fun out of it, doesn’t it?! ‘blowing kisses’ is about having a crush. It’s about that point where it turns into something more, because unlike that stranger implied, the more information you learn about your crush, the more you end up falling for them. It’s about hanging on every word they say, being out and only being able to see them. And when they say your name, that feeling you get each time, it’s like the first time anyone has ever said your name… I guess it’s an ‘if you know you know’
feeling… if you do you’ll understand and if not, know it’s a precious song about being desperate to know what that other person is thinking’.

So yes, the sound is pop but it’s pop music about something, something real, with words that resonate, words that come from actual life.

Lucky Iris make pop with depth, pop that’s crafted into something special. And with ‘blowing kisses’ they’ve made a beautiful classic pop song that’s just right for the Summer and, of course, for ever after.

The info

The song is taken from their eagerly awaited upcoming EP ‘maybe i’m too much’ (out August 11th).

Formed during lockdown, the pair have rapidly gained momentum, receiving taste maker press (Louder Than War, Punk News, God Is In The TV, Gigwise), radio plays from BBC Radio 1, BBC 6 Music, BBC Introducing Live Sessions and support from Amazing Radio as well as landing a number of Spotify and Apple Music editorial playlists, the Premier League Official Playlist and Soccer AM’s ‘ones to watch’ playlist.

The duo started performing live in September 2021, which has seen them touring cities such as Leeds, London, Liverpool and many in between supporting the likes of: Stealing Sheep, Real Lies and the Lottery Winners, as well as appearing on festival lineups including Live At Leeds, Long Division, 110 Above and most recently The Great Escape.

Oh wow, a whole album of music from Lewis; it’s like a whole heap of birthdays. To be fair Lewis has a habit of releasing EPs, but the last album I reviewed was back in 2020.

I always seem to start my review of his music by saying that you always expected the unexpected from Lewis, and this is no exception to this rule. As can be heard from the first track ‘Glow’ which takes a decidable dreamy sound. That is until the laid back guitar solo The whole has something of late 60s’ psychedelic pop thing going on And it’s richly beautiful, the sort of sound you can sink into it, bliss.

‘Smiles Cost (Tears Are Free)’ goes off on a slight tangent. Yep it’s still that, and forgive me for this please, New Psychedelia sound of the 80s’. Raw R’n’B, fuzzy guitar, heavy on the beat. It reminds me of one of my fav New Psychedelia bands from way back then The Playn Jayn (you like raucous psych with a dual lead vocal, check them out), in a very good way.

This sort of sonic theme comes with the next track ‘Photograph’. But it’s taken forward into the now. Big big chorus, huge dancey beat, unexpected drops into something more downbeat and moody. It sounds as wide as the sky. With the most earwormy tune.

A while back I said that a single from Lewis sounded a bit REM, and so it is with ‘So Low’. Yeo it has those intensely strummed guitars, that slightly swampy southern feel. But it also has the most joyful sound, until the mood changes that is. Yummy.

A change of mood, a change of sound ‘Counting Sheep’. A scratchy itchy intro and then it bursts into something more rocky, more muscular. It’s one of those ‘where in the hell does this sit musically, don’t know, don’t care’ songs. It switches from big guitars to strangely happy chorus, to throbbingly dark anxious passages. It sometimes goes as close as you could to metal without being metal as I’ve heard. ‘Lost Souls’ continues this heavy/almost poppy thing but differently. Yes, there’s those big guitars but this time combined with something scratchy, something off-kilter. Something that reminds me of Big Audio Dynamite, a bit at least.

The thing about this album is that it compels you to go onto the next track, it’s like a musical journey. So let’s travel on.

A throbbing scratchy guitar (could be acoustic, could be not) forms the backbone of ‘Hypnotised’. An intense claustrophobic track that builds to the sound of a guitar being tortured with metal implements; played inside a metal pipe. It is, as the title might suggest, hypnotising.

Oh wow, a sudden switch ‘I Can Your Afraid’ takes that darkly happy sound and turns it into something poppy. Harmonies, piano, pop-rock guitar. It’s all so wonderfully wrong but so gloriously right.

Time for a guitar driven rock out, you got it. ‘Shortcut’ is driven by a dtorming guitar that throbs, that hits. But hey, there’s this kind of tuneful overlay in the vocals.

Now, don’t get fooled. ‘Don’t Stare’ may start off sounding like some sort of alt-folk singer/songwriter song – and it’s wonderful don’t get me wrong – but it bursts into something harder, something crunchier. Only to fall back to quieter. Yes, this is one of those quiet/loud tracks but it’s not alt-rock, it’s somehow still something singer/songwriter.

Now I know Lewis is fond of a crunchy guitar and here we are; ‘Pulse’ is built around the pulse of a raw guitar. I say pulse, when it gradually gets more way out, more fuzzed. And over this is, unexpectedly, this tuneful vocal. Yes, I guess we could call this garage-y or even psychy. But then again not. You see it sounds like something from the soul, something really full of emotion.

And we close with ‘Fade’ a big song in the style of something like a 70s’ ballad. You see the core of this is an acoustic and piano, bursts of fuzzy guitar set back in the mix, something that sounds like an electronic organ. My helpful friend described this as sounding a bit cheesy, but then she’s not as keen on big 70s’ ballads as me. And yes, there are hints of the psychedelic.

Here in this song Lewis explains and explores the act of taking some time to see where you are in words that sound all too personal. It asks the question how did I get where I am. And it’s all so beautiful, it tugs at your heartstrings, and I’m not afraid to admit it left me with a tear in my eyes.

‘FLY’ sounds and feels like a journey, both musically and emotionally. A lot of the songs have this dark and happy feel, a built in contradiction, an internal conflict. And there’s an arc in the sound of the individual songs that seems to explore how you can do that. ‘Fade’ lyrically seems to address this exploration; so it fits the arc of the album.

This album is the sound of a musician and writer exploring the limits, pushing the envelope, and doing it brilliantly. Every song is compelling, every song surprises and intrigues. It compels, it mesmerises, it tests you, it puts you through it emotionally. It is so beautiful it hurts.

Stream/Download https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/lewisjackinman/fly