EP: Thin Lizard - 'Swan Songs'

If “pop nonsense from the heart” sounds like your kind of thing (and why wouldn’t it?) we highly recommend you acquaint yourself with Londoner Thin Lizard (aka Oli). Although initially he had no intention of releasing his music to a wider audience, we’re glad he’s decided to share new EP Swan Songs just in time to cheer up the ears of wannabe glam rockers and “pop nonsense hearts” across the capital.

It’s good to be cautious when making comparisons between emerging artists and musicians who are so well known their names practically sparkle when you voice them aloud; but it can’t be denied that Oli sounds like a young Marc Bolan on his summer holidays. His is voice is equally as nostalgic as it is fresh, and it’s accompanied by T-Rex-like strolling rhythms on the EP’s opening track ‘Melody’s Watching’. He provides the perfect beat for you to swing your feet to on ‘Something’s Happening!’, and you’ll still be swinging them to second track ‘Indian Time’ shortly afterwards.

It’s the care-free, uplifting sound of ‘Playing The Part’ however, that’s the highlight of the release. The song’s melody wraps around you like the scent of summer flowers, and it’s the perfect antidote to any day that’s left you feeling out of shape. Thin Lizard’s slow-burning rhythms, enviably sharp percussion, and hazy vocals continue to impress on ‘Ramjam’ which feels like a late afternoon smooch in the rose beds, and the jubilant ‘Blue Skies’ closes the record; allowing you to wish your hours away whilst “making plans that might not take”.

Uplifting, melodic, and expertly executed on what seems like a whim; we urge you to get outside in the sunshine and start making daisy chains to the sound of Thin Lizard’s Swan Songs.