Heartbreak, bars, and Brits: if those three words describe your taste in music, consider checking out the fresh new indie band, Lovejoy. Led by singer-songwriter Wilbur Soot, with Joe Goldsmith, Ash Kabosu, and Mark Boardman, this band takes the everyday experience and puts it into an expressively aggressive musical form. In mid-October, Lovejoy released an EP, Pebblebrain. I picked out my favorites from the set to discuss, so be sure to check out the other four for the full experience!

“Concrete” starts off with a harsh snare drum solo, the speaker seemingly annoyed right off the bat. “Any more words, I think you’ve spoke enough.” The scene is set in a pub nearing its closing time, with the singer and a woman in the middle of an altercation. She’s drunk and angry while Wilbur is, if anything, mildly bothered, though he’s likely the perpetrator in this scenario. “All this, over a kiss!” he says, implying that he cheated on his significant other. He mocks her distress in her drunken state, exaggerating her aggressive disposition as he plays off his own disloyalty. This song does a fantastic job of showing the wrong in both sides of a toxic relationship while keeping the relatable biased perspective familiar to those who often listen to Wilbur Soot. It’s a great venting song to angrily drive to after a messy breakup!

Pining over an ex? This song might just be for you. “Perfume” is the fourth song on the EP, starting out with a light and energetic guitar melody. The song begins with Wilbur texting his ex at an ungodly time of night, depicting him pining for an ex that’s moved on to another guy. Wilbur suggests she’s only dating someone because all her friends are in love, not because she genuinely loves them. But who wouldn’t like this guy? Wilbur tries to find something to hate about him but ends up criticizing shallow characteristics. “By the way he holds you / Bet he serenades you / I can’t really blame you.” He regrets ever letting her go. During the chorus, the tone turns bitter, saying he could “still smell her perfume” asking if the smell rubbed off on his ex’s boyfriend. The song ends with a repetition of the opening line, “It’s 3:45,” and leaves an open end as his ex hasn’t caught her taxi and her boyfriend has yet to pick her up. “I don’t think that he’s coming,” and the song ends with an unfinished tone, leaving the listener wondering what happens next.

The final song to be discussed in this EP is “The Fall”, my personal favorite for its diversion from the tone of the rest of the EP and its raw, poetic lines. The song is a look at the economic disparity in the UK. The narrator is from the point of view of Wilbur, a person  who didn’t come from a wealthy background but has worked his way up the economic ladder. He watches the way the rich try to escape from those lower than them, complaining about things like the lack of grocery stores in an area, a serious problem as a large portion of the lower class in the UK lives in food deserts. Wilbur gives an example of an ironic escapism location for both white and blue collars alike, perhaps a cliff or a bridge. He sings “And the ramblers will say it’s got a marvelous view / But they don’t know how many lives it took / No, they’ll never know what you knew.” Everyone doesn’t see the cliff the way he does, and it’s so easy for them to disregard the pain of those around them. The tension builds through the second verse and bridge, leading up to an emotional section of poetic grievances about how he’s shocked by the wealthy’s apathy and how he will never see eye to eye with their mentality. It has beautiful lyricism and intensity, but you’ll just have to listen to it to feel it.

Overall, Pebblebrain is an exceptional EP, perfect for walking around downtown with a chilly breeze against your back, the endless commute home, or even just laying on your bedroom floor after a long day. It has a variety of different moods and topics, even beyond the ones talked about here, while still creating a cohesive, distinctly suburban feel. So if you’re looking for something new to fix up your Spotify wrapped, take a few minutes to check out Pebblebrain!