Their debut album is not holding back any punches as they establish their place amongst their modern post-punk peers, such as Prima Queen, English Teacher, and Wet Leg, with a dash of influence from the indie-pop world with Caroline Polachek and Beach House.
Lime Garden, comprised of Chloe Howard (lead vocal/guitar), Leila Deely (lead guitar), Tippi Morgan (bass) and Annabel Whittle (drums/beats), have created a piece of work that explores different compositions of relationships that they have with friends (primarily other women), family members, themselves, and their career as musicians.
‘One More Thing’ is, at its core, an indie-electronic-pop-rock album that behaves like a cosmopolitan of genres. It's a groovy album with an interpolation of funk, punk, modern electronic synths, pop-esque autotuning, soft alternative country twang howls, and siren-like effects that make the album sonically riveting. Lime Garden's album is fun, electric, eclectic, and addicting.
‘One More Thing’ lives up to its name as each track unravels like a footnote in a diary. Those footnotes are the authentic thoughts, emotions, and reactions to the world around them. There's always something else to say and to feel in each song lingering the notion of there is one more thing to say, think about, make a decision about, the list goes on. It's the story in between the lines that we say out loud to others. The ten track album demands your undivided attention, and the 'Love Song' as the opening to the album is the best bait for an enjoyable listen.
'Love Song' is funky with a danceable hook fused with a playful electric keyboard focusing on the first type of relationship they bring attention to, romantic love. This energetic song masks their internal footnote about having mixed feelings about their dynamic: "And you know that I love you, but this ain't a love song / And I hear them around, and I can't help but sing along".
It's a frenzy of them realising that Lime Garden needs more perspectives and feeling outside themselves and the world around them. There is love weaved throughout 'Love Song', but there's more to it that the band and the listener are figuring out.
Next, moving into 'Mother.’ This song is a poetic mirror of the parents' relationship to their children. It's an atmospheric piece with lots of reverb, creating a cavernous experience of how these relationships morph over time - "Only noticed as I grew that we're the same / You see, we do everything in mirror/ Yet, I do not even know who looks back."
The tearing reality of noticing that we are somewhat like our parents yet how we diverge as we find ourselves; traces of our parents live within us, but we are not them and making sense of these odd "ah-ha" moments is sometimes earth-shaking in adulthood. ‘One More Thing’ continues to extend its reach into how women view each other in 'Nepotism (baby)' ("Across the world, it's a known fact/ That if you piss her off, you'll never get your own back") and 'I Want To Be You' as it plays on the viewpoints of society pinning women against each other and the need to edit yourself to get "seen".
As well as different themes of figuring out who they are as people and musicians, as heard in 'Pop Star,' 'Fears,' and 'It.' Each of those tracks grapples with the demands of breaking as a musician and doing more than just music to make it, fears of actually being successful, dreams being out of reach, and the wave of settling and accepting the fluctuations of life to find peace with it not always being the outcome you desired.
'One More Thing' is the list of footnotes in a diary jam-packed with effervescent surrealism. It makes Lime Garden a tasty, refreshing, and memorable listen as they create their twist in the indie scene.
Tyra Baker
Image: ‘One More Thing’ Official Album Cover
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