If there’s one thing that lotusbliss know how to do, it’s cinematic soundscapes, and their newly released sophomore EP, bittersweet, is no exception. Three of the four tracks have previously been released, leaving ending song “Reculver” as the remaining unheard single. Now that we get to hear the songs together, in their correct places within the ecosystem of the EP, the worldbuilding that the band have a knack for really comes through.
It blows my mind that this is the band’s second release as they have the sound of seasoned indie professionals, reminding me of artists such as Chelou and Fatherson. Each track sounds polished and fully formed, like they’ve always been bubbling at the surface for this band of brothers, just waiting to be played.
Speaking to Fame Magazine, the band said this of the EP: “The songs explore how a place can both hold a place of grief and celebration in our hearts, how we can see the need to apologize for hurting someone but can’t bring ourselves to do it, how anger and a deep desire for change sit together and how nostalgia can distort our perceived reality.” These themes are prevalent in “Reculver” especially, as they lament with aching vocals: ‘Nothing seemed the same to me / And a piece of my heart died,’ and then questioning: ‘Do our minds play games with us?’ This is backed with interchanging rousing and melancholic rhythms that have you longing for the places you loved as a child.
bittersweet is an unflinching look at distorted childhood memory, the sadness that can come with growing up, and an otherworldliness that exists in the quiet parts of life.
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