Brighton-based alt-poppers Orchards follow a tour supporting Tiny Moving Parts with new EP ‘Losers/Lovers’ – their first release on the always-ace Big Scary Monsters. Led by Lucy Evers on vocals, the four university friends have already made their mark in the math-pop arena and are set to be one of the highlights of both Truck and ArcTanGent festivals.
‘Luv You 2’ kicks off the EP in sunshine-infused style. It’s a bouncy piece with woos and heartfelt pleas from Lucy: ‘I never needed devotion. I never needed your help. I just need this emotion to express myself’. ‘Drama King’ follows with a more technical start but a more melodic edge as Lucy laments how she’s been treated in the past: ‘I’m not the flower you should prey upon. I see right through you’.
With Totorro-style guitars and a dancey vibe, ‘Double Vision’ might just be the highlight of a phenomenal eight songs. Lucy talks openly about her depression (‘I’ve been trying so hard to find my place in time’) amongst the toe-tapping beats. There’s another emotional outpouring towards the end of the jangly ‘Age of You’ before the TTNG-inspired ATG-anthem-in-waiting ‘Peggy’ takes over with impeccable riffs and woozy time signatures.
An ode to the worldwide bee colony and the way that women are treated, ‘Honey’ is altogether darker but is still eminently danceable as Lucy defiantly sings: ‘Drown your sorrows just like your morals. You let a good thing slip away’. The closing ‘Darling’ finds Orchards heading into more angular territory with parts of it reminding us of ‘Silent Alarm’-era Bloc Party.
‘Losers/Lovers’ is an EP full of honesty, heart and hooks that you’ll want to play for the rest of summer and beyond.
