We’ve missed quite a lot since we’ve been away, including the return of Lush !! Unlike many recent reformations which trade entirely on nostalgia, Lush’s return has been marked by the release of their first music in twenty years in the shape of a brand new EP. There also appears to be a suggestion that more material may be forthcoming at a future date.
The Blind Spot EP which is released on the 15th April on the band’s own Edamame label sees Miki Berenyi, Emma Anderson, Phil King reunited along with Justin Welch (formerly Elastica, stepping in for the late Chris Acland) and it sounds like they’ve never been away. The production from Jim Abbiss and Ladytron’s Daniel Hunt is perfectly judged retaining that classic Lush sound, and whilst it reaches back to touch fingers with the past, it very definitely moves the band into the here and now.
Lush sound more like their beginnings than their endings on Blind Spot, but it’s also the sound of a band not straining to reclaim former glories. There comes a time in life when you realise that perhaps spray on skinny jeans is a look best left in the past and instead of clinging desperately to the memory of your faded youth, you embrace the person you are today. Blind Spot is an elegant, sophisticated example of where Lush are now and it manages to seamlessly bridge their twenty-year absence with an uncomplicated sense of dignity and grace.
(ps. We’d also recommend buying the vinyl as not only does it come beautifully packaged but also has some highly amusing etchings in the run-off groove ;) )
We asked Miki Berenyi about the inspiration for the lyrics on the new EP.
Out Of Control
“Most people with teenage kids are fairly quick to recognise what’s going on in Out Of Control. You can love someone more than anything in the world, and still fight, and it feels devastating because all you want to do is hold them and make everything all right, but it’s not happening. “
Lost Boy
“I had a dream about Chris and realised during the dream that it wasn’t real, and well… self-explanatory, “
Burnham Beeches
“Burnham Beeches is about what love felt like when I was a teenager. It’s light and uncomplicated and fills your senses, but it’s fickle and fleeting and when it’s not working, it just evaporates.”
Rosebud
“Rosebud is – well, it’s complicated. My daughter was being bullied by some boys at school and not the knuckle-dragging thugs you’re immediately imagining but a bunch of articulate middle-class wankers who didn’t like having their sense of entitlement threatened. It’s tough being a teen, and if you’re a girl and you don’t conform to the simpering teary-eyed passive ideal, you’re fair game. I’m Maleficent, and I will have my revenge!”
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