Label: So Young Records
By Emily Malia
The journey that Lime Garden have been on since their conception has taken the four-piece to great heights, with a stellar-run of singles and appearing on lineups across the country, it’s time for ‘One More Thing’: their debut album.
Merging the trials and tribulations of a typical twenty-something with the ambitions of making it in music, this record perfectly encapsulates that fleeting feeling of getting older and opportunities slipping through your fingers.
One of the longer tracks on the record, ‘Pine’, takes a melancholy approach, with lead singer Chloe Howard’s ethereal, echoing backing vocals that feel reminiscent of an 80’s alternative sound. Full of cynicism and wit, these lyrics strike a chord with those of us scared to take the big leap towards our dreams, with lines like ‘Everybody wants to make it, yet nobody seems to try.’
A standout track amongst the enticing titles is ‘I Want to Be You’. Sitting alongside ‘Love Song’ as one of the most melodic and catchy songs on the album, Lime Garden write about the complications and nuances of female relationships, filled with both jealousy and comparison yet admiration and respect.
The line: ‘I want to consume you but where do I start?’ poses an obsessive attitude towards the person in question and felt similar to ideas explored in Little Big Town’s ‘Girl Crush’. Howard said herself that the lyrics stemmed from a feeling she felt when seeing a band live and asking herself ‘do I want to be you or be with you, or do I want both?’.
Nothing is black and white on ‘One More Thing’ as Lime Garden continue to toy with these existential ideas that ask themselves and their audience unanswerable questions.
Sonically unique and playful in its lyrics and production, ‘Floor’ is the most experimental track on the album, with distorted, autotuned vocals and clunky electronic sounds. ‘You’re my ceiling, you’re my floor, I’d put you in my top draw’ is a peculiar confession of love, making it one of my favourite lines on the album.
‘Fear’ contains the most gloom-ridden lines, addressing the confusion that comes with being in your twenties and revealing the band’s deepest, darkest fears. As someone going through a major transition period in their life, the words: ‘I fear the feeling of failure, I fear the thought of some success’ hit me straight in the chest.
Ending the album on a rather sombre note with ‘Looking’, Lime Garden leave you feeling emotionally exhausted, in the best way possible. Its stripped back and raw lullaby feel stirs emotions that you wouldn’t have expected when listening to the first songs of the album.
Whilst the themes on ‘One More Thing’ are clear and consistent from beginning to end, the musicality of this record is incredibly diverse and takes you on a rollercoaster of sounds both nostalgic and completely original. It is a well-crafted and much anticipated record that deserves all of the attention it will no doubt get and I’m sure fans and new listeners alike will find themselves confronted with emotions they were not ready to address.
Listen to ‘One More Thing’ here: