"I felt like I was part of something" a thread for Real Lies

Underworld meets East 17 is how I usually describe them to friends yes xp

I say usually, to the 3 friends I've mentioned them, that's how i described them

surprised no one has mentioned Disco Inferno in reference to these guys

oh totally, I'm surprised I haven't said that yet

I peg the new one as “Two Months Off” meets “Weak Become Heroes”. Pretty much all their songs sound a bit like that but this one really does.

underworld was the immediate, obvious comparison point when i first heard of them

disco inferno makes a lot of sense too, very similar spoken word vibe

Underworld, The Streets, Pet Shop Boys yes but going further back may I also mention The Beloved? All of whom I love. East 17 may be pushing it though!

talking of things that sound like real lies, i ventured into spotify's real lies artist radio today to see what the algorhithm would throw up and there seem to be quite few newish uk acts who have the same sort of thing going on but - and i'm not going to name names here cos everyone likes their own thing - but a lot of them seemed pretty dreadful to me. maybe its cos i havent had the chance to develop the same emotional connection to them, but they just gave me deep cringe. with real lies theres a sense of willingly giving yourself up to some sort of starry-eyed vision of the future and the past and the here and now and the hope and the loss and all that stuff, in a music sense and in actual lived life, but while listening to failed attempts at this sort of appeal to a romantic camaraderie i realised what a fine line they tread. fuck, i'm rambling here, friday night cans and a work-broken brain

yeah their ability to be convincing about what they're doing - which i would say is to find that moment in everyone's life where they feel the most alive, then mourn for it, thereby creating a sense of hope for its renewal - is pretty singular. getting off balance in any way is treacherous. i feel like sometimes they come close, i.e. in the emotional climax of "late arcades", but then they always pull back with grace.

Underworld meets East 17 is perfect haha

fantastic album

happy lad ash day!

ah the vinyl is going to have the singles that didn't make the album as bonus tracks on the final side:

Ethos
Boss Trick
An Oral History Of My First Kiss
Dream On

Late Arcades
Thameslink Tryst
Dolphin Junction
All Good Dogs

Since I
The Carousel
Your Guiding Hand
DiCaprio

You Were In Love
I Wander
Oh Me, Oh My (Nicotine Patch)
Birds

this came together really well. sounds like these guys have been through the ringer with some very harsh set backs to get this thing over the line. they deserve some good press.

i bought the vinyl, estimated arrival time...jan 2023!! got damn

Incredible album. I pre-ordered the vinyl too. Something to look forward to next year I guess.

This album reads to me like a wistful midpoint between Underworld and Fluke and I really, really dig it

holy fucking shit

'Dream On' is killing me atm

"Late Arcades" still rules so hard

This is so good.

An original sentence was "How many layers of irony do you need to navigate to include a track called 'Thameslink Tryst' ffs?" but after navigating "Thameslink Tryst feels like actually offering out Burial live on air", I think I'll go with "I love you for including a track called Thameslink Tryst".

album feels like hearing last exit for the first time again

Yes! There was one track towards the end that was a dead ringer for Junior Boys. I wasn't that hot on "Dream On" as a single but it flows very well in the album

lol ya i buy this as second incarnation of last exit on some level, the cringe being a critical element (saying this as an unabashed last exit stan).

the stuff i like most here is pulling the thread of Three Words by way of Summer's Last Sound. Dolphin Junction is a current highlight.

i was curious about their live sound too and found this set from lockdown. it sounds great! better than i expected for some reason: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGhAB7ibGi0

oh no that don’t have a dude that sings like the junior boys guy now do they?

(Haven’t heard the album yet)

"The Carousel" is the one I was thinking of: very Junior Boys sounding, and yes it has singing, not sure who's doing it

I missed a lot of the lead-up songs to this album so I'm only just realizing how amazing "Your Guiding Hand" is, it's buried near the end. overall, an incredible album

Really enjoyed first listen of the album with 'An Oral History...' and 'Dolphin Junction' standing out a little but solid all through. Worth the wait.

there are lots of highlights in the back half, i don’t really feel like anything is buried

Yeah wrong choice of words on my part. I mean to say I was so taken with the front half on the first couple listens that I didn't pay as much attention to the back half, which is also quite good

no doubt, it’s all great, i do think that my favorite not
-single moments are on the back half, like “dolphin junction” and “your guiding hand.” “dicaprio” is pretty good too, love how it transitions from compelling cool down to m83-style bombast

fairly certain DiCaprio lifts this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1GieXvZuq4

I deliberately mostly avoided the singles to wait for the album, so this is hitting me all at once. Amazing album.

It's hard to put into words just how much I love the moment when the beat kicks in on Dream On. It makes me so happy.

Also really obsessed with An Oral History Of My First Kiss, especially the backing vocals which give me Steal My Sunshine vibes.

Perfect album. Probably my favourite of the decade so far.

talking of things that sound like real lies, i ventured into spotify's real lies artist radio today to see what the algorhithm would throw up and there seem to be quite few newish uk acts who have the same sort of thing going on but - and i'm not going to name names here cos everyone likes their own thing - but a lot of them seemed pretty dreadful to me.

I've always wondered whether there's a sprinkling of personal algorithms in those artist radios because my Real Lies one is pretty decent although filled with stuff I already listen to like Charlotte Adigery, Bullion, Hard Feelings, Anz, Joy Orbison etc

I had the opposite experience - after this album it played Flaurese, St Jude, Lawrence Hart, HAAi, Nabihah Iqbal, Working Mens Club - all good to great.

That Nabibah Iqbal song is so good if it's the one I think it is

I'm obsessed with An Oral History Of My First Kiss, too, and with DeCaprio, in particular "Do you remember? That second Nessun Dorma summer..."

I'm a bit disappointed to see this hasn't been reviewed many places yet. It deserves a lot more coverage.

If anyone wants to commission me please do, I have a LOT of feelings about this album

did the guy burn some bridges working in editorial? bad pr team? unlikeable people? all the above? genuinely surprised at this getting so little coverage

“I felt like I was part of something” pic.twitter.com/VCmWchV69I

— Real Lies (@_real_lies) April 27, 2022

it's kind of confusing bc p4k gave an early single from 2014 bnm and then didn't even review the first album

it looks like lad ash was just self-released though so that + it's been 7 years since their debut, which didn't really do well enough to get them much of a critical following or anything, means i guess it's pretty easy for them to fall through the gaps

I think as well that their style of music is so untrendy right now in a lot of ways - yes, they're drawing from dance music and its culture, but it's not the "cool" end, it's big-room Underworld-style sounds of yesteryear. The laddishness could have put them in that thread of naff UK bands with "swagger of Oasis" and it's easy to mistake that lack of finesse and polish for deliberate machismo posturing if you're not paying close attention. The disarming sincerity and vulnerability is at odds with the artfulness of a lot of contemporary indie too. I think the reason they stand out is that they feel so singular and unique in what they do, as much as they excel at what they're aiming for. But that's what makes them a difficult proposition to sell - there's not really any major current trends they align with.

I would definitely have pitched a review if I still wrote for p4k.

I agree with boxedjoy's take above, though would perhaps say (not that this contradicts boxedjoy's point) that maybe part of the problem is that, if you're not paying attention, they can be boxed too easily as "West End Girls" as produced by Underworld (or some variant or equivalent) - not so much "I don't get it" as "I get it too easily and there's nothing more there to get, to grapple with". I doubt many if any people find them either perplexing or hateful, but I could imagine a lot of shrugged shoulders and "why should I care?"

Or to put it more simply, I am surprised that there is no post above, perhaps from imago (or turrican if they were still around?) dismissing Real Lies as pleasant but ultimately unimaginative, derivative music for norms.

"You Guiding Hand" was excellent as a standalone single but it works even better in the context of the album, the pummelling kickdrum section (vaguely reminiscent of "Born Slippy") is like a final blast of ravey euphoria before the album winds down.

I think as well that their style of music is so untrendy right now in a lot of ways

an obvious comparison as far as recent acts go is for those i love, who's gotten a fair bit of attention & acclaim in the uk press lately doing a pretty similar spoken-word-over-moody-dance-music thing but he's really nowhere near as compelling as real lies

real lies obviously aren't innovating but they've distilled down their influences really really well, captured that melancholic uk late night vibe as well as anyone ever has. the album's pretty wide-ranging too within that vibe

think the lack of backlash so far is partly because they have pretty much no hype in the press or anything

the one For Those I Love track I've heard was terrible, the example of how to do this sort of thing really badly

yeah i did not get the hype there at all

Can't remember the last time I played an album as much as I have this one in the last week. Got tickets to see them in November and can't wait

They're a lot of fun live - saw them in Salford a few weeks back and while they were hampered by technical glitches, once those were fixed it was really good. Guest vocalists and dancers!

Concur with all the praise for the album, the new tracks easily stand up to the previously released tracks.

seeing them tomorrow for the second time in six months, even more excited because I know what to expect (and this time insisting on pals coming rather than going alone)