Given that my job is to be ahead of the curve, writing about things before, or at least just as they hit the general public, I am shockingly behind on this one. Still, better late than never, as they say, and I’m glad I didn’t let “Burnt,” the new one Lost Velvet, get away. And neither should you.
As is often the way with their music, it might be easier to talk about what elements and influences aren’t found swirling around at its heart, but that would make for a very strange write-up, so here goes. It isn’t hard to hear echoes of that place where the eloquence of dreampop brushes up against a more robust shoegaze sound, the sound of a very nineties collision point being brought bang up to date.
But it is an underlying funky groove rather than the perhaps more expected walls of guitar sound that drive the song, but it is also surprisingly spacious and wonderfully serene, despite its sonic depth and breadth, Melissa Morris’ vocals flowing delicately and deftly over the top, the icing on the cake. There are hints of the arabesque woven through its ornate and increasingly anthemic sound, and even though many textures are laid one on the other to create a reassuring weight, the finer points of the song – distant chimes and fleeting yet intricate guitar motifs – still make themself heard.
Add to this a video that is as beautiful and beguiling, hazy and heavenly as the music itself, and you have more than you could ever possibly need in a song.
