Heartbreaking and powerful, a witness statement to love lost, Lucia And The Best Boys‘ new EP ‘The State Of Things‘ is truly an indie masterpiece.
Hailing from Glasgow, where the band have sold out some of the city’s biggest venues, Lucia And The Best Boys are a four-piece indie band. They draw on late 80’s influences such as Madonna, Yeah-Yeah-Yeahs and Stevie Nicks, and consists of singer and guitarist Lucia Fairfull, drummer Alasdair Scott, bass player Chris Frew Ballantyne and guitarist Conor Goldie.
Released by Sweet Jane Recordings in October 2020, ‘The State Of Things’ is the band’s second album. A collection of four tracks, with each song transitioning smoothly into the next, the EP is a raw and heavy story of heartbreak. The expression of mixed emotions is not too dissimilar to the band’s previous release ‘Eternity.’
‘Perfectly Untrue‘ is an instant toe-tapping classic. With heady low vocals and unwavering bass lines, it is almost provocative, yet the lyrics tell a different tale. Fairfull expresses anguished heartbreak through a haunting chorus of: ‘I’m all dressed up in gold, my heart is black, and blue / I pretend I’m perfect, but it’s perfectly untrue.’
Such emotions and visual representations of Fairfull’s anguish can be seen in their stunning music video. The band has been able to perfectly envision the song’s lyrics through a series of costume changes and props, as well as capturing the essence of late 80’s female powerhouse Joan Jett.
On their track-by-track feature for DORK, Fairfull said the track was written in a midst of emotions: “It shows the many mixed emotions I was going through during heartbreak, feeling strong and capable one minute, then distraught and confused the next.”
“The happy-go-lucky sound of ‘Perfectly Untrue’ portrays the fake joy I pushed myself to feel in order to avoid the sad truth, which is displayed in the lyrics that are also coated in glitter and glamour.”
Written during the coronavirus pandemic, second track ‘Somewhere In Heaven‘ follows the state of mind, and somewhat emotional rollercoaster that ‘Perfectly Untrue’ envisioned for the rest of the EP. Slower paced and with quieter tones, ‘Somewhere In Heaven’ is alike to a Lana Del Ray track that you would hear on the radio.
A song depicting the painful reminders of what life used to be, ‘Forever Forget‘ follows suit in the album’s theme of heartbreak and anguish, a low harmonic vocal piece as it builds to the chorus. Raucous and powerful, the chorus teases the listener with the band’s capability to change pace at any given moment.
The album is wrapped up by their last track ‘Let Go.’ This prominent ballad highlights the confusing nature of desire, a collaboration between frontwoman Lucia, and Alex Greenwald of Phantom Planet. Slow-paced and inebriating, ‘Let Go’ perfectly enhances the album’s representations of pain, leaving the listener desperate for more.
“I think ‘Let Go’ is the most honest and true I have ever been in a song.”
‘The State Of Things’ is an instant classic. The EP is something for anyone to listen to, in order to get over a breakup, or to dance to in the club on a night out.
