THE LATHUMS - FROM NOTHING TO A LITTLE BIT MORE
The Lathum’s cement their standing as one of the UK’s top indie bands with the new release From Nothing To A Little Bit More. This latest instalment audibly connotes inspiration from a catalogue of the greats and integrates an unapologetically raw and emotive narrative at its front. Frontman Alex Moore draws from a challenging past to find a delicate balance to between hopeful optimism and melancholy, creating a dynamic lyrical tonality for the record.
Part of the change comes from losing bassist Johnny Cunliffe, reducing the group to a trio but one can’t help but note that this seems to have brought the group closer together. This hasn’t affected the depth of the album and in fact we see a wider use of instrumentation with tracks featuring piano and brass melodies, enriching the diversity of track structure and range of expression whilst alleviating monotony. A particular track of intrigue comes in the first half of the album titled ‘I Know Pt 1’ which has an early Rock & Roll feel from the 50’s, something that feels like a natural extension of their sound but a surprise, nonetheless, from a young group in the spotlight of the charts.
Furthermore, this nostalgic nod to aforementioned ‘classic’ eras doesn’t end there. ‘Facets’ has an eerie likeness to the iconic tune of The Police’s ‘Message in a Bottle’, however expands and develops greatly over the discourse of the song. This is a self-proclaimed patchwork of various tunes written over several years. It’s at the halfway point the album begins to stagnate, a result of too frequent a change in tonality, pace and rhythm. It feels somewhat chaotic and easy to be lost in, the narrative doesn’t progress in fluid manner which might wear the listeners attention. A detail that threatens to derail the album moving into the latter half, but is saved as it draws to a conclusion.
‘Sad Face Baby’ and ‘Land And Sky’ inject life into this concluding end of the journey, with catchy riffs and punchy baselines, they are points of interest that grip your attention with interesting lyrical messages that are most memorable and poignant.
If ‘Struggle’ was a very apparent introduction to From Nothing To A Little Bit More, then ‘Undeserving’ is more evidently its epilogue. It certainly brings the album to a clean conclusion, but also seemingly makes the first step to bridging an artist to audience connection.
The Lathums latest addition certainly builds upon their progression as musicians, showing off that they have more to offer than previously demonstrated. But it doesn’t feel like the pinnacle of what we can expect from them, and maybe that is a result of revivifying older tracks that lack the wisdom compared to more recently conceived songs. This isn’t a concerning factor though, it indicates there is still plenty of songwriting in the tank for future releases and all the while, is still a welcome instalment from this up and coming group.
David Barter
★★★★☆