Friday 16 September 2016

New Music: Let's Eat Grandma - Sax In The City (Video)


OK I’m going to say it now, 2016 hasn’t been the best year for ground breaking new music, particularly from new artists. So much of it, be it pop, hip-hop or even so called ‘alternative’ indie hasn’t sparkled, but merely glowed with a dull pleasantness. 

A few years ago I wrote a lot about how contemporary pop music (and I use the term pop in the widest sense) had reached middle age and there certainly seem a lot of artists out there who are in that rut; not just musically, but lyrically to – with words seemingly bashed out in just a few minutes and so many of them being very inward looking. At the risk of sounding like one of those grumpy old men who sit in the pub shouting that things were better in their days, where are the future Morrisseys or future Nicky Wires or future Kate Bushes taking references from literature, politics and art, having something to say, and turning those big thoughts into songs? I know I go on a lot about this but the next time I hear someone singing about being IN DA CLUB or how YOU'VE JUST GOT TO BE YOURSELF I will not be held responsible for my actions.

OK, moan over. Before you all shout back in disagreement telling me I’m looking and listening in the wrong places, let’s be clear that there are still interesting, idiosyncratic and eccentric artists out there. They’re probably just not sitting in a London record company office being told by well-meaning but ultimately self-serving people what they should and shouldn’t do to be ‘succesful’. 

Take a look to Norwich for example. Let’s Eat Grandma’s album certainly won’t be everyone’s cup of musical tea, but that’s the point. It might not be perfect (it isn’t) but those flaws give it far more character and personality – it provokes a reaction. The new video for album track Sax In The City, which features some warped ungainly music and imagery of Rosa Walton and Jenny Hollingworth dressed as babies crawling through the streets, certainly does that. It might leave you shaking your head in despair, giggling uncontrollably, feeling slightly uncomfortable or thoughtful and considering if there’s some deep artistic message behind the whole thing, but it will make you feel something – and for that alone, it should be applauded.

Let's Eat Grandma - Sax In The City (Video)

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