Album Review: Cassia - 'Why You Lacking Energy?'

Indie-rock trio Cassia release their newest album Why Are You Lacking Energy? - songs that live in the moment, are caught up in thoughts from the past, and surrounded by anxieties for the future.

Cassia, made up on Rob Ellis (lead vocals, guitar), Lou Cotterill (bass), and Jake Leff (drums) allow their spacious piano ballads to weave a tropical-sounding course through crisp, synth-driven anthems, instant and catchy hooks, and idiosyncratic lyrics steeped in substance.

Three singles from the album have already been released, Motions, a light pop track which emphasises “All this time, all this time, waiting for it” summing up the emotions surrounding the album's release as well as the themes it drew inspiration from. Not Enough Time To Think, follows on from the theme of future anxiety, as Rob sings, “I'm movin' way too slowly. Still, there's not enough time to think”, a true representation of the time spent over the past few years, and the speed at which it seemed to pass us all through consumption and over-consumption of all that was available to us.

16-18 (Why Are You Lacking Energy?) is the latest single release. On this, Rob explained "This song is about being obsessed with how shiny the past looks and is based around a series of daydreams I kept having all set between the ages of 16-18” which continues the nostalgic feeling of their previous debut album Replica (2019), and the last song DreamA.

Morning’s Coming opens the album, slow and sugary layered vocals upon muffled guitar and Rob’s smooth voice as he sings of a nostalgic yearning for his younger years. He explained, “I think at the time I wished that I could just go back.” The latest album appears to be a continuation of the unique sound we first heard in 2016 with songs like Paradise Beach and 100 Times Over, now with underlying heavier elements.

The album, Why Are You Lacking Energy?, is a journey through Cassia’s roots in the sun-kissed indie sound, but now with three years of development from Replica’s release, the sound has matured into something heavier and uniquely Cassia.

Releasing an array of live dates and festival appearances across the summer, the Macclesfield trio are exacting their focus on 2022, with a newly announced October UK tour to top it all off.

Words by Jemma Levine

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