The fourth album by the Lemon Twigs is finally here, the next instalment by brothers Brian and Michael D’Addario.
Lemon Twigs are another up and coming band from New York. Everything Harmony is a classic Lemon Twigs record, following in a similar vein to their previous three records. Like Nora Brown, the Lemon Twigs do not have the iconic attitude of the Big Apple in their sound. Unlike groups like Dakota Jones, the Lemon Twigs have no obvious hints of classic NYC. Biggie, or Nas, or the Ramones, or Lou Reed, do not scream out at you when listening to Everything Harmony. Instead, they sound like they should be living on Venice Beach out on the West Coast, sunbathing and singing their easy going ballads – in fact, the album was partially recorded in San Fran. But this is from an Irishman whose ideas about American music are based almost entirely on stereotypes and TV shows, so maybe the balladic harmony of the Lemon Twigs is exactly what New York is sounding like these days.
Everything Harmony is a great name for the album. It’s easy listening, chilled out rock; everything in the album is harmonious. Their influences are clear, they pour out of the album like it was written as a collab. The album is a love song to the bands who inspired them. When Winter Comes Around could have been sung by Simon & Garfunkel, In My Head is more Mumford & Sons or maybe The Beach Boys. The ghost of Brian Wilson is a constant across the album, in fact.
It was claimed this album hinted at sounds similar to Syd Barrett (of Pink Floyd fame). I didn’t get that so much. Any Time of Day could be by the Bee Gees. What You Were Doing sounds like I Wanna Be Adored by the Stone Roses. I Don’t Belong To Me could be Sufjan Stephens and In My Head is alarmingly similar to a Ben Folds track. Arthur Russell also seems to be floating through every song in one way or another.
They are fairly experimental – What Happens To A Heart has an eclectic mix of instruments experimenting with sounds very different to say In My Head. So the record on the whole is a nice listening experience; easy to listen to, entertaining, with hints of musical experimentation and prowess throughout.
In terms of negatives, there is nothing terribly new or exciting about Lemon Twigs – their influences are so strong they seem to be emulating all the bands they like in a cocktail mashup album, rather than using that inspiration to create their own sound. This gives the impression you are listening to a cover band rather than a band in their own right. Their ability to emulate other bands is impressive, but not enough for this to be a good album. Do Hollywood, their debut album had a similar sound, but was peppered with bits of comedy throughout – check out the I Wanna Prove To You music video for clarification. This album unfortunately does not have the same elements of humour, which is a shame. That being said, they do not warrant a bad review, but the lack of anything negative to say is largely because they have little innovation to offer in general with this new record.
Everything Harmony will be released on 5th May 2023 via Captured Tracks
