Loose Talk Costs Lives recently approached The Recommender for some extended blog inches regarding their upcoming EP, following our initial bit of coverage last summer. The Leeds four-piece asked if there was any chance of a little bit of fresh editorial, which we’re more than pleased to offer, as there’s nothing better than repeat custom is there – makes you feel like you’re doing something right, right? Right.
We were happy to oblige because the second we hit the play button on the Soundcloud link we were reminded of precisely what earned them their Recommender coverage first time around. Usually, with this kind of highly-skilled, intricate indie pop music, the people making it have to be pretty damn talented to get anywhere near this level of song writing, so any new material is bound to race confidently into your ears like a puppy that’s missed it’s owner for months.
Their debut EP, Wax & Gold, is now ready, having been produced by James Kenosha (Pulled Apart By Horses, Grammatics, Chapel Club), and is set for a release on August 8th. It’s four tracks are all impossibly gorgeous, clearly marking out their enviable talents, as they manage a difficult trick in writing music – to show off such clever songsmithery, but more importantly to do it so consistently. This EP picks you up for fifteen minutes and never lets you down.
The first track Seraphim is like opening the blinds on a bright, sunny day. It introduces you to their African-styled guitars, that feel as soft, welcoming and pretty as glitter on a beautiful girl’s face, before the combined vocals breeze in. After approximately 1 minute and 45 seconds the whole song begins to close the deal as it seduces you patiently, pausing entirely before they build it back up to something altogether more energetic than what’s gone before. The end drifts over you like a heroin overdose, all blurred and distant, as if it’s left your world entirely. It’s a cracking opener, that shows off one of their best moves – to write songs like stories, with a proper beginning, middle and end.
The satisfaction continues into Hemlock, which feels like the next chapter of the same book, as the guitars once again star, finding Oliver Route’s fingers not to so much playing the instrument as dancing along it’s neck. It’s a more confident piece, with a pace to match and a few less breaks, but it’s still magical all the same.
The third track on the EP, Calavera, shifts gears entirely and it’s a welcome re-alignment. It’s perhaps the strongest track on the mini-album, as the slower pace lets it warm up and allows the focus to move onto the voices. The guitars still dance, but they’re joined by others in a more collaborative style which is utterly irresistible. Approximately three minutes in they reach for the pause button and usher in a sweet vocal refrain that’s reminiscent of Dog Is Dead. It’s yet another tender moment in a series of considered junctions.
The final tune, Amaranth, seems like all the lessons learned from the previous three tracks brought together for a closer. It once again highlights their best features as it unfolds like the petals of a rare and beautiful flower. Tropical indie music like this has been a real feature of 2011 so far, with Real Fur, Holger and Theme Park all entering The Recommender’s ‘favourites list’ in recent months and Loose Talk Costs Lives stands as tall as any of them. It’s customers such as these that make shopkeepers like us smile broadly upon seeing them return, so we are proud to place their products straight at the centre of our shop window. (MB)
LOOSE TALK COSTS LIVES – SERAPHIM
LOOSE TALK COSTS LIVES – CALAVERA
LOOSE TALK COSTS LIVES – HEMLOCK
