Someone much wiser and versed in the music business than I’ll ever be once told me something that I’ll never forget; good things take time, but great things happen all at once in this industry. Time and time again I’ve found this statement to be proven true, whether it concerns an up and coming rapper or a singer/songwriter trying to break into Nashville. When they’ve got a fair amount of talent, they’ve got the potential to grow into their sound over time. But when they’re amazing, we know from the very beginning of their career, and there isn’t anything that can be done to stop the momentum that ensues.
To say that Lord & Lady are the ultimate discovery of 2018 could possibly be the biggest understatement of the decade. Over the course of the last few months, they’ve been shot out of the woodwork and become one of the most instantly recognizable acts in indie music today, and their extended play No Ghost is already being buzzed about as a serious contender for record of the year (a rare achievement for an EP). Their music isn’t exactly made for the Macklemore crowd but more for fans of modern indie pop that is as intellectually stimulating as it is catchy, and in a twist of fate they’re proving to be more commercially viable than any of their more mainstream contemporaries.
No Ghost unfolds before us one minor complexity at a time, and I emphasize the word complexity above all others when it comes to describing Lord & Lady’s music. Much like a sophisticated symphony orchestra, this band doesn’t rely on a single instrument, tone or verse to be the centerpiece of its entire presentation. There are dozens upon dozens of skewed, manipulated notes that stereophonically modulate to create a wall of sound that becomes in escapable from the start of No Ghost, and as intimidating as that might sound it ends up creating a rather comforting, insular soundscape as a result.
Throughout all four tracks on No Ghost, Lord & Lady don’t hesitate to wear their emotions on their sleeve, and the vulnerability that they display is startlingly relatable. A lot of artists, especially ones who are on the cusp of major success, are extremely reticent to open themselves up in the way that this band does, usually for fear of becoming overexposed creatively. Lord & Lady bear it all in No Ghost, and I for one find this level of intimacy to be incredibly refreshing.
I don’t exactly know how they did it, but somehow, someway Lord & Lady managed to make a fifteen minute extended play sound and feel like an anthological LP. It actually makes me wonder whether or not the world’s palate is ready to embrace a full-length record from these two yet or not. Based on the aesthetical weight of No Ghost, I can only imagine that other indie pop musicians are doing some serious reinventing of their own sounds to try and learn the secret to Lord & Lady’s success, and it should be interesting to see how pop music is effected as a result.
SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/album/00GaaxEjB6AB6DapIIpZ9L?si=s9ZH312bTK-ini1ZvSjerg
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/lordandladymusic/