EP: Johnny Lloyd – ‘Eden EP’

Following the huge success of last year’s Dreamland EP, Johnny Lloyd had a lot to live up to, but after a stretch of relentless gigging (with the likes of Jamie T and The Maccabees) and studio time, Eden EP sees Johnny’s sound not only matched, but bettered.

While it’s comfortable and perhaps familiar to continue to refer to Johnny as ‘ex-Tribes frontman’, Eden proves the redundancy of such a title. Where Dreamland kept the familiarity of his previous band’s sound, Eden takes a step away; though Lloyd’s voice will never lose its signature sound, Eden is giving it a new lease of life.

What’s clear in Eden, too, is just how much work was put into it. Produced by The Maccabees’ Hugo White (who produced Dreamland) and The 1975’s Mike Crossey, it is – despite the intentional lustful wooziness of it – a completely together collection of tracks. From the lead single ‘Running Wild’ – rather sweetly based on the freedom Lloyd finds in playing live – to the title track, Eden goes on a characteristically melancholic, but simultaneously triumphant journey. This is something that a lot of time and effort was put into, and it’s paid off.

Eden is out 14 April. See Johnny Lloyd live:

April

19- The Sunflower Lounge, Birmingham
20- Scala, London
21- Sticky Mike’s Frog Bar, Brighton
22- Joiners, Southampton
24- The Louisiana, Bristol
25- Soup Kitchen, Manchester
28- The Leadmill, Sheffield

 

Melissa Svensen

Melissa Svensen

Melissa, 22. Editor. Student, music journalist, probably talking about Blur or Bowie