Lola Colt Review The Singles

New tracks from a scary Brooke Candy, Foxes, Beck and more...

To you it might be a bank holiday – but the music industry never naps, never pauses its progress for a weekend break in the Brecon Beacons (or even Basingstoke, assuming you can find it on a map). So, here’s this week’s new singles column – with review words penned by Lola Colt’s Kitty Austen.

Clash has published its share of positive prose for Lola Colt in the past – over here, we summarised their output as “snarling soundtracks for unborn classic movies”, while the Londoners’ recent ‘Vacant Hearts’ (listen below) track was described thusly: “a piece of psychedelic noir; a driven, deranged piece of rock music.”

They’re alright, likes, is what we’re saying. Over to Kitty for her thoughts on the new-release singles…

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Beck – ‘Say Goodbye’

“Beck. Never been a huge fan. Never really been able to work out the hype. Also, that crazy cat is a scientologist, which is always a little off-putting. Anyway, Beck’s new song features his nonchalant, drawl with a backdrop of wishy-washy, beige-coloured acoustic guitar. It’s a break-up song but a really quite insipid one with all of the fun stuff taken out: no anger or hatred or revulsion or abhorrence or disgust or anger or repulsion or dirty break-up sex, etc.

“I can imagine 40-somethings putting it on at a cheese and wine soiree, drinking out of their John Lewis crystal wine glasses with the men sneaking off to the kitchen to talk about how hot little Tarquin’s au pair is. Truth be told, I’d like to ‘Say Goodbye’ to the track… (ouch).”

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Foxes – ‘Holding Onto Heaven’

“I don’t know anything about her, but I like foxes so I’m going into this with an open mind. First thoughts: great fringe. She’s got a big voice, and the song is not what I was expecting at all – it’s a friendly, high-energy power ballad. I can imagine it fast becoming a Magic FM classic, which means I’m going to be hearing it a lot at my nan’s house. I just skipped through the comments section on YouTube and saw this: ‘Those eyes just see right through my soul.’”

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Justin Timberlake – ‘Not A Bad Thing’

“Ah, Mr Timberlake. Now, I am a little young to properly remember his illustrious career with ‘N Sync, but I am appropriately aged to maybe have cried a river or two in my day… I may have once had a poster or two. (Double-denim with Britney, anyone?) I may even have rocked my body on the occasional high day and holiday. Unfortunately, this is no return to the Timberlake glory days, as in: it’s no ‘Señorita’/duet with Madonna gallivanting over cars and supermarket conveyor belts.”

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Brooke Candy – ‘Opulence’

“Ooh, it starts with police sirens. It makes me feel like a little old lady: confused, and maybe a tiny bit frightened. Wow, I just read that her style has a distinctly ‘stripper-meets-tumblr aesthetic’. That’s possibly the best thing I’ve ever read. I really need to work on my own ‘stripper meets tumblr aesthetic’; it’s definitely below par at the moment. I think I’m a bit ‘too Facebook’. (WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?) Anyway, I did some research and found this sparky little lyric: ‘Don’t touch my hair hoe, or my chinchilla coat.’ Well, I am staunchly anti-fur, so it’s a no from me Brooke.”

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The Black Keys – ‘Fever’

“Jack White will be delighted, as this sounds nothing like anything he’s ever produced – he might even let little Jack White play with little Dan Auerbach now. ‘Fever’ is a definite new direction for The Black Keys, and it’s kind of okay. It has a fat, hooky synth line that I can hear in an episode of Made In Chelsea. I’m not wild about it. I like the cowboy chord at the end. It’s kind of nothingy.  

“What I did find delightful was this comment under the psychedelic, whirling lyric video they put out: ‘I personally welcome our new electro style overlords.’”

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‘Vacant Hearts’ is released on June 2nd. Lola Colt online

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