The latest single, like the previous by the south London band, fizzes with pop-funk maturity, a piano-led soulful disco number from Jessica Winter and former White Fat Family member Alex Sebley. One of the key strengths of their writing is how it strips back, towards a sublime simplicity, both in rhythm and piano chord progression, and is adorned with the playful panache of the pair’s intertwining vocals. There’s also lavish-sounding production that harks back to the 80s, but also feels definitely new.
The uplifting Anna is inspired by friend of the band artist Anna McDowell who makes sculptures themed around depression. Mental health is a recurring theme. On the previous single, in which vocals straddle their ranges with extra effects, lyrics seem to touch on thoughts of ending it all, but also, in extreme moments, seek genuine people and experience.
The band name mischievously sounds like some mythological prog-rock metal outfit, but is in fact a tongue-in-cheek reference to the painkiller pregabalin (marketed under the brand name Lyrica - a strange coincidence for songwriting) that was used in part by Sebley to get himself off a heroin addiction, harking back to the heady, chaotic days when he was a member of the Fat White Family. Still friends and musical associates with key members Lias and Nathan Saoudi, Sebley had a dominant writing role in early single Touch The Leather. In 2016 Sebley began to work with Winter, the vocally soaring, dance-electronica solo artist who has also worked with the Fat Whites, Gorillaz and other bands. Crucially her friendship and writing partnership helped get him off the hard stuff. Their collaboration now brings a delicious musical potency that also heralds what promises to be a great forthcoming debut album.
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