Album Review: LIFE - 'North East Coastal Town'
LIFE have finally released their highly anticipated third album ‘North East Coastal Town’, four songs of the album have previously been released and gave voice to the anticipation with which we waited for this inclusive new pop, punk, rock record by the intriguing Hull-based band!
‘Friends Without Name’ is a lengthy and mantra-like song driven by desperate-sounding vocals, the opener of LIFE’s new album is a portal to the rest of this record. If you made it through, you will be treated to the boisterous, powerful and exciting ‘Big Moon Lake’. While they chant “I’m freaking out”, all I can do is scream along because no lyrics have ever been this suitable. The bright, sunshine-y surf rock vibes are turned up on single ‘Incomplete’, it’s fantastic and elaborate with elusive drums and passionate vocals, a thumping beat and warm guitar lines making this quite the inclusive track.
We return to the more pensive, breathing, spacious ‘Almost Home’, with vocals and vocal harmonies that make me doubt I actually want to return home. It is the mysterious soundscape, a combination of riffs, delayed vocals and tentative transitions that make ‘Almost Home’ a very intriguing track. Despite being a surprise, an unsure and meandering sound, ‘Almost Home’ ends up being the pleasure that is hard not to move along to, and when it ends, the end seems too sudden… But then, we enter the realm of ‘Duck Egg Blue’. LIFE truly takes us on a journey, showcasing their different sides and all the narrow and dark yet colourful alleyways of their musical existence. ‘Duck Egg Blue’ takes on crooning vocals, a dark and gloomy yet hopeful soundscape that is driven by a gently shimmering guitar loop and… Well, those vocals.
About ‘Duck Egg Blue’, vocalist Mez Green says: “‘Duck Egg Blue’ is a realist's love song. The journey of trying to navigate through each other’s feelings and emotions, the strains of close quarters trapped in a tiny flat, the minutiae of everyday life. The overarching sentiment is that no matter what happens, after all that is said and done, we love each other, and we are there for each other.” And while I am still recovering from that intimate piece of crooning pop rock, the band gets back to the point with ‘Shipping Forecast’. We are back to boisterous and invasive, loud and in-your-face, raw, and very similar to the way I first encountered LIFE when they supported Slaves on tour in Amsterdam in 2016. This signature sound continues mesmerising on ‘Poison’, their mantric and eclectic, caffeinated punk rock sound is what I love about LIFE. Genuine and chaotic, loud and clear, they’re obviously trying to tell us something…
And so we continue this journey, while there’s hardly any sitting still left, ‘Self Portrait’ is another example of refreshing and unadorned LIFE. While ‘The Drug’ takes it down a notch, and showcases yet another side of LIFE, what the band have kept up all the way throughout the album is the homage it's paying to their city of Hull. “Hull and the surrounding area runs through our DNA and has shaped us, weathered us, empowered us, embraced us and made us feel accepted.” This embrace, this shape-shifting translates to the sound of ‘North East Coastal Town’, the album is mesmerising in all its surprising nooks and crannies and contains a bit of everything, from filthy punk and grand rock to soft pop rock, crooner pop and some surprising experimental bits that have no name yet. This album embraces not just its creators homecity, but also all and any of its listeners.
The end of the album is a two-parter, with soft rocker ‘Our Love Is Growing’ announcing the end, building on exciting guitar lines and leading vocals soft and angelic as a feather plucked from angels’ wings. It isn’t just love that’s growing, it’s LIFE growing into their own skin and proving their relevance with a brilliant and exciting album. ‘All You Are’, a very fitting title, is the end of the road. The closing chapter of a story I thoroughly enjoyed reading. LIFE understood the assignment, the reason albums are still very relevant and show the seriousness of an artists’ career. Besides ‘North East Coastal Town’ being the bands’ love letter to their city, it is also their business card, their creative outlet in which they poured heart and soul. Not just because they like seeing their music on Spotify and enjoy the number of likes their posts get, but because they are artists and they should be heard, for they have something important to say: “You belong here.”
Words by Laura Rosierse
