Brighton trio Orchards return with new album ‘Bicker’ (released on Friday 28 March via Big Scary Monsters. Full of bittersweet lyrics about love and losing it, Lucy Evers says about the album: ‘There are sad songs, happy songs, songs of ambivalence and everywhere in between on this record. But it’s back breakingly true. Every word, every note. We mean every one’.
Punchy power-pop hooks signal the start of ‘Say It’, a song that blends Dutch Uncles-style art pop melodies with a touch of tenderness: ‘Was it right that I wrote you a love story?’ It’s a bright and bouncy start with huge guitars and thunderous drums. The title track follows with more mathy moments while ‘I Feel Terrible’, as you can probably guess from its title, is full of seething anger at the toxic people and culture that just make you feel ‘jaded’: ‘Give me some space. You’re spinning me out’.
‘Good for You, Good for Me’ is a breezy festival anthem in waiting with its repeats of ‘I’m running away’ reflecting the thoughts of every anxious Millennial (and generations that came after). There’s a touch of Pavement-style slacker pop on ‘Sweetie Pie’ as Lucy laments herself for being a ‘Hopeless romantic’ amidst fuzzy riffs and danceable melody. ‘Bethnal Green’ opens with a recorded train station announcement from that destination and offers an acoustic and tender restbite from all the hooks: ‘It hasn’t changed since ’93.’
‘Mug Song’ also opens in more reflective mood as Lucy recalls the things she misses about a former companion – ‘Mostly I miss drinking with you’ – before ‘Groan’ veers into a Kraftwerk-meets-Sparks space in its opening. Guitars swirl around with gleeful abandon as Lucy remembers: ‘He said call me any time you want and I’ll be there to get you’.
The album finishes, rather brilliantly, with a Taylor Swift/Lorde-style flourish, ‘You Can Get Used to Anything’ marrying thoughts of despair against a pure pop backdrop that will have you shuffling. With ‘Bicker’, Orchards have grown yet again – bringing with them instantly relatable topics that blend seamlessly with marvelous and magic math rock melodies.
