LOVELOVELOVE “Smalltowns” Review
Written by Emma Newbury
The moniker is probably what you’ll be saying when you hear Brisbane’s newest band LOVELOVELOVE grow and bloom onto the scene this year as they share their first ever single ‘smalltowns’ across local streaming services.
For a fresh-out-of-the-womb band, it was very surprising and refreshing to see just how much work has already been put into the project, as the first single itself as well as their recent promotional shots look to be of the standard you’d expect from an act as big as Cosmos Midnight or Flight Facilities. The song ‘smalltowns’ was practically formulated to be on the radio, with a chilled-out indie pop sound that’s been doing the rounds in terms of winning peoples ears over for the past few years, and it’s easy to admit that the song definitely gets stuck in your head relatively easy with its repetitive chorus and easy to comprehend lyrics.
This perfect radio formula was no accident, as a little bit of digging uncovers that Denis Janseis actually an audio engineer and mastering wizard, while Jared Huntermark is an audio producer, and even dabbled at making deep house music at a young age under the name ‘Jared Hundy’. It’s really no secret that these guys already knew what they were doing and how they were going to do it.
‘smalltowns’ starts off with an electronic gurgle of fragments taken from the upcoming chorus, before going into a beautiful acoustic fingerstyle harmony as the vocals waft in. Emotional heartstrings get played, as the lyrics begin to hone in on what sounds like the start of an intimate relationship, and the song ensues at pulling you in. You follow the picture the lyrics paint, all while swaying your head ever-so slightly to the guitar while indie synths hum in the background. The pre-chorus strips back all the instrumental apart from the subtle strum of the guitar, allowing for the listener to direct their focus to the vulnerable state that the vocalist presents via the lyrics, and suddenly we are presented with a crisp drumbeat followed by those LANY-esque synths that were introduced at the beginning. The gurgle-like electronic voice also comes back to highlight key words and raise that headbobbing just a little to entice listeners into a little boogie.
When we get into the first single of LOVELOVELOVE’s discography, a fairly commontheme is already established. The song delves into the feelings of a passionate short-lived relationship that’s over practically before its even started, like a matchstick flame burning ferociously before being snuffed out and trampled underfoot. “'Smalltowns' explores the claustrophobic nature of falling in and out of love in an environment where everyone seems to know everyone (and everything) about you. “states the band about the single, which is a fairly accurate take considering how reluctantly connected we all really are in a world of social media, and the need to spin a positive image at all times, even when it’s not real. Similar to a small world where we are judged on ourselves and our relationships by the vast grip of the public, ‘smalltowns’ actually addresses how it feels.
