LACEY – I Don’t Owe The World A Thing
aaamusic | On 16, Mar 2016
Following on from the success of their debut album Under The Brightest Lights, Lacey release I Don’t Owe The World A Thing. A clean-cut charming five track EP reminiscent of an early Jimmy Eat World. It comes as no surprise that the band have just gone out on tour with Bowling For Sou – they have that real Americanised style about them with their clear production that will sit well with that younger fan base. Let’s get into it, shall we…
As with many releases, it’s the first track – ‘Shadow’ – that lets this EP down. It’s a little too straight down the middle, it lacks the depth in the arrangement, lyrics and all the ‘woooooahs ‘are so obvious it is borderline cringey… I’m not really seeing what singer Graham Turner is trying to say in the lyrics, I’m told that the song is about some things are better left behind us, with lines like ‘I’m not nothing anymore, I won’t chase my shadow’, but the lyrics lack the depth to really display this emotion. It feels like they have tried to write a song to get on the main stream radio following all the classic approaches that is asked from bands nowadays and the song is really lacking in substance because of it.
Moving on to ‘Hoax’, this track is a real step in the right direction. The hook ‘I’m a hoax, I’m a liar but I’m a saint’: lovely stuff. This is strong songwriting, something that I can get behind. Jim Atkins would be proud with that hook line. This is the kind of song that needs to be listened to loud to get your blood boiling and juices up!
‘Take Me Home’ is a much slower, down-tempo song, which highlights the band’s ability to write a ballad. My interpretation of the meaning is that the band are longing to go back to a place where they want to be, they have left someone behind and if they go back they will break that person. ‘I would break the glass that holds you, I would tear your world in half’…Leaves it open to the listeners own judgement to draw meaning from.
Next up, ‘Ghost While I’m Alive‘. This song really defines Lacey’s signature sound. Lovely melodies, nice clean sounding guitars with Graham’s vocals showing off his strength in delivery. I Don’t Owe The World A Thing, the EP title, features in the words of this tune, and paints a strong visual image. Proceeding this comes the chorus line ‘Take me away from here, take me out my mind, take your rain and fire’ – It really seems that the band want to go somewhere else… Which leads us to the end of the line with the final track.
‘You Know Nothing‘ is the stand-out track on this EP and a great number to end on, I have even added it to my Spotify playlist (which is kind of a big deal). It is a beautifully constructed piano song. The chorus line ‘You know nothing’ is very alluring, it reminds me of ‘Hear You Me’ apologies to be countlessly referencing Jimmy Eat World – but it does! I feel that it could have done with another run through the chorus line before kicking into the drum beat towards to end a cracking tune. It’s so good it deserves to be longer, which is hardly a criticism there.
A younger me would have been really in to Lacey. Back when I was beardless and full of angst, I would have been all over this. Nowadays, with a few cheek feathers and a beer belly on the horizon, I feel that Lacey lack the depth of what they need to really propel them in to the lime light. There is a lot of potential there, and from listening to their previous release they are growing; they have a lot of strengths. The EP is well worth a listen. But if I may speak candidly, I would urge them to hone in on their lyric writing abilities, not sticking so literally to the theme of the song but instead look to explore a metaphor once in a while. They would really benefit from studying the likes of Conor Oberst, and tapping into his brilliantly random mind… The band are from London yet are really lacking that English edge, they sound very American in both the delivery of the vocals and the production element of their sound. Not that that is necessarily such a bad thing, but maybe they would benefit from getting that more gritty British feel about them.
The band might be five years too late with this release, but then what the hell do I know?! Music is a form of beauty, and beauty is in the eye of the beholder and do you know what a beholder looks like?!
