Lewis Del Mar
EP Release
(Columbia Records)
Their debut single ‘Loud(y)’ released in Dec 2015 hits number 1 on Hype Machine and makes the US iTunes ‘Best of 2015’ list after only two weeks on the platform.
They now release their EP ‘Loud(y)’ featuring the track ‘Malt Liquor’
So Lewis Del Mar play their first ever shows at New York’s Mercury Lounge and Rough Trade late last year to sold out crowds, also playing two packed shows during CMJ 2015 at Webster Hall and Brooklyn Bowl. The internet/ radio people KCRW to includes the act in their round-up of “11 Artists that Ruled the Fest,” noting that “their live show is more than ready to be a tour de force nationwide.”
So who are Lewis Del Mar?
Lewis Del Mar comprises two longterm friends, Danny Miller and Max Harwood, making music together from 5th grade and continuing to do so throughout high school. Post graduation, the duo move to Brooklyn, NY before eventually relocating to Rockaway Beach, and then Lewis Del Mar results. In July of 2015, after almost two years of preparatory collaboration, Lewis Del Mar the act hits the blogosphere as they initiate the independent release of their first single “Loud(y).” The reaction was overall positive, with the cut garnering support from Indie Shuffle, Pigeons & Planes, Consequence of Sound, KCRW and CMJ. Danny and Max are currently at work on their first album release.
OK..let’s move on to their music. It doesn’t make much impression on me, initially, to be honest. But one thing is clear: the vocals have a certain character which will glue this together. You could say the same about, say, Foster The People and they haven’t done badly! Here’s what I hear, for what it’s worth…
WAVE starts out with crisp if somewhat solemn acoustic guitar figures and mournful keyboard sighs, with strange clattery percussion and a hint of rhythm box. Gradually a sonic Super 8 blurry romantic tale emerges as the rhythm chording settles a tad into something more substantial. It’s a listening equivalent of stirring custard as it cooks. As this hippy poem of lovestruck hue slips gently onto a languid chorus we are in a place of relaxed lo-fi tenderness. I have no idea how this would be performed live with any kind of impact. Can’t stand the erratic robotic drum tracks, however avant garde they are supposed to come over
LOUD(Y) has already found a receptive audience, it seems. Again a guitar figure leads us into the piece, with the kind of low buzzing synth that makes your bowels stir if it was any more prominent. The opening line, being “ Can you please sit the **** down ?” is unlikely to get them onto Songs of Praise. The tempo is unsettling but the voice has a beguiling quasi-soprano presence, not helped by some obscure muttering filtering through. A brief stop and the cut reasserts itself over a more solid rhythm. Cocaine wipeouts are referred to and a soft chant/chorale coos in and out. The lack of definition limits its appeal, to me
MALT LIQUOR again has the guitar riffing and a world-weary vocal that sounds like bad-trip aftermath, the steady drum pattern sounding tinny. The singing begins to sound strained. A half-hearted freakout starts but isn’t going anywhere. It all evokes a croaky Jeff Buckley in lost mode, with a hint of early T Rex. A slackers’ odyssey
MEMORIES – and here is where it almost starts to work at its best. A lyric about a split delivered with a weird neutrality on its effect on the narrator. A robot rhythm that subtracts from the songs impact. An easy falsetto vocal that chimes early Beck, deliberately atonal here and there, upping the no-hoper vibe. Plus a fine melody that the ramshackle ’arrangement’ doesn’t aid..all smacking of ‘That’ll do..’ Then a rattling coda that is pretty addictive
Now these chaps have evolved a sound and ambience which includes this off-kilter percussion. They sound how they want to sound and no outsider can gainsay this creativity. But here’s The Hurt – with a live jazz-influenced and supple drummer ALL these cuts would sound 1000 per cent better. The mid-period Tom Waits albums have this element and it makes the numbers gel. I offer this thought and wish this original act all the best, there is talent here
Pete Sargeant
Lewis Del Mar’s EP ‘Loud(y)’ Is out now on Columbia Records. In addition, Lewis Del Mar will be performing at The Great Escape Festival 2016 which takes place in Brighton, United Kingdom from Thursday 19th May 2016 to Saturday 21st May 2016. For more information visit: http://bit.ly/1P02A2a
For more information on Lewis Del Mar visit:
Facebook: http://on.fb.me/1PPuHof
Twitter: http://bit.ly/1JTxpqq
Soundcloud: http://bit.ly/1PPCWAI
