Some souls being more sensitive than others, hyped Sheffield indie four-piece, lostboy’s Max Clutterbuck reaches emotional depths to create the evocative highs of Lover as monochrome visuals for the band’s second cut of new music this year are revealed. The single, a determined path-beater towards the band’s six-date UK Tour, starting in May, builds on a steady word-of-mouth ascent over the last 12 months, the result of sweatbox live dates and a run of sparking, independent releases.
Right now, Lover finds the band at a thrillingly tense tipping point with the video’s crisp noir featuring every member and evoking lostboy’s introspective mood.
Nowhere else is that sense of optimistic insecurity more audible than in Lover’s untamed, percussive landscape of doubt, false hope and new beginnings as Clutterbuck writes a scene of romantic tragedy in three parts. Shimmering guitars begin to buzz and chop dramatically into the off-beat as the song progresses past emotional imbalance to cataclysmic breakdown, pushing lostboy way past the bracket of mere indie hopefuls. Somehow, with grace and good intention they cut the acerbic, gothic pop of classic Tears For Fears and Talk Talk with flat vowel storytelling not far removed from Arctic Monkeys and Pulp. But not nearly the same as producer, Alex Quinn (SPINN, She Drew The Gun) pushes the band through their comfort zones.
Reflecting on the single, written very much for the live stage as those tour dates loom on the horizon, Clutterbuck says:
“’Lover’ was inspired by the ominous feeling of an inevitable break up, where there’s an uncomfortable tension in the air that you can’t put your finger on. I wrote the song to build throughout, similar to how arguments and tensions are going to come to a head, until mid-way through the track when everything comes crashing down, tempers boil over and you’re left with the mess to clean up”
Lover follows January’s Weight as the second track to be lifted from a new, five-track EP titled Love Among Angry People, released on limited edition vinyl and digital formats on Fri 6 May 2022. lostboy’s ejector-seat propulsion out of South Yorkshire and into bigger, UK-wide venues results in the following, six-dates before festival season kicks in.
Tue 3 May – Leeds, Oporto
Wed 4 May – Newcastle, Head of Steam
Sat 7 May – Manchester YES Basement
Wed 11 May – London, The Grace
Thu 12 May – Cardiff, Clwb
Sat 14 May – Birmingham, Sunflower Lounge
Remaining tickets for all lostboy live dates are available via booking links posted at the band’s website: www.thatbandlostboy.com
