Label: Night Time Stories
By Meg Ivy Brunning
Back when the world was momentarily shut down due to COVID, London duo lavender emerged. When all I looked forward to was my daily walks to the nature reserve near my house, where I could journal and do my therapy exercises — I was hopefully looking for something to pull me through. That’s where lavender came in, releasing their hit ‘peppermint‘ which later became one of my most played songs during this period of time.
Life slowly but surely started to go back to normal and leaving the house armed with five different sanitisers as well as three different masks in every pocket of your bag wasn’t really needed anymore. Every time I listened to ‘peppermint‘ I was reminded of the resilience we had during a time that was so uncertain. Now it’s 2025 and the duo are here with their debut album ‘we’re at a barn dance.’
Despite the title of the album suggesting a raucous knees-up in a hay-filled barn, ‘we’re having a barn dance‘, is less about do-si-doing and more about an internal celebration, a quiet acknowledgement of joy and connection within simple moments. Where the only frantic movement is the flutter of moths drawn to a warm light and an old book, dogeared with a polaroid of your family from last summer.
Birds tweet, the breeze goes through my hair, my hands move with the wind as I stick them out of the window and I’m reminded that summer is near, if I can just get myself through the last few weeks of Spring. Soon enough, the sun will be kissing my cheeks, while I kiss the heads of my loved ones. Picnic blankets will become the norm and my only worry will be reapplying sunscreen to make sure I avoid getting sunburnt.
If I close my eyes for long enough, I can hear the laughter of my younger self float through some of the instrumentals in this album. Take, for instance, the second track, ‘(ifnotnowthen) when‘. It starts with this incredibly gentle guitar riff, those first moments when you wake up in the morning and see the sun peeking her head through your curtains. Adam’s vocals here have this almost whispered quality, a wish you’re sharing afier you blow out a dandelion, watching it fly away in the summer breeze, building into this gorgeous layered harmony that feels like hugging a friend afier months apart.
This album left me smiling from ear to ear, journal in my lap as I wrote about days that reminded me of being in love and feeling like I could take over the world.
‘Missing you‘ slides into your ears like an overdue ray of sunshine after a spell of relentless rain. It carries that same bright, almost naïve sweetness that first drew me to ‘peppermint‘, but there’s a new found maturity here. It’s the sonic equivalent of that pang of longing you feel for someone you love, not necessarily a heavy sadness, but more of a gentle knock on your heart, reminding you of the absence.
The melody has this almost skipping quality, like a memory playing on repeat with a fond smile. It’s the kind of track that makes you want to reach out to someone, just to say hey, i’m thinking of you … are you thinking of me?, no grand gestures needed, just that simple nod to heartfelt connection.
Nostalgia bites at my heels, a constant reminder that time is passing and while sometimes that terrifies me, most of the time it’s comforting. Just like this album is. It’s comforting in the way that fresh sheets while the window is open on a Spring afternoon is, or your Nana’s home cooked meals. Familiar and warm. Sweet and soulful. Nostalgic, but somehow, someway after a period of turmoil, you come out of it at peace.
The tracks seamlessly intertwine, giving you the space to daydream before you gently drift back down to Earth again. Floating above yourself, this album is a beautiful demonstration of using textures to create instrumentals filled with life, as Adam’s vocals take you into a warm embrace.
It doesn’t feel as though there’s a lead vocal, even if you only really hear Adam’s vocals, creating immersive soundscapes that feel like summer nights in the city, sipping on cocktails and getting lost down backstreets. It’s like a choir of one, each harmony adding another layer of feeling, much like those classic soul records that could make you feel both heartbroken and hopeful simultaneously.
Hopeful for a better present and hopeful for a brighter future. An acknowledgement that you get to decide, it’s in your hands how you move forward and how you deal with it. Isn’t that kind of beautiful? I think so.
There’s power in the vocals, making you want to take time away from your busy life and just sit and listen. Listen to the birds tweeting, listen to the way the drums crash through like waves do to the shore, listen to the way the harmonies feel like sunscreen being rubbed into skin. Notice the breeze in your hair, this album truly took my breath away from start to finish.
I guess, the only thing left to say is: if this album were a season, it wouldn’t be the chaotic energy of summer, but that perfect late spring evening where everything feels full of potential and the air smells like hope and freshly cut grass.
My hayfever is already acting up in anticipation. I hope you stay with this album and give it a chance just like I did. Hey, maybe you’ll find something you enjoy and a new found perspective that hope is everywhere around you, if you just close your eyes and let things be what they are.
Listen to ‘we’re having a barn dance’ here: