Lazypines Brings Us to Memories of Home with 'Daisies'
Daisies is an immensely beautiful 5-track album about yearning for a place you can call home.
If I can describe Lazypines' new EP Daisies in one word, it would be 'wistful', but that wouldn't be doing it justice. Daisies is an immensely beautiful 5-track album about yearning for a place you can call home. Some may call this a follow-up to their previous EP Little Things, but I think Daisies touches on something special.
To me, 2022's Little Things was very focused on self-care. It was an album that I loved as a small reminder of the ways the world can be overwhelming and move you in unexpected ways. It caught my eye at just the right time in my life.
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Now in 2024, Daisies turns to have a conversation with the world around it. People move, places change, time continues, but Daisies wants to capture these moments and desires before the petals escape us in the wind. There's a sense of maturity in both the sonic tone, and the lyrical tone. Lazypines reflects on themselves and the people around them in different ways from song to song. It's a welcoming voice that still asks for something more.
"And I know that it's not true, I don't think I could do it all without you / And I don't know what to do, but I know it's not home without you"
"Questions" opens as such a hopeful note to the new era. Its frolicking string melody permeates the opening and sets the stage so well. Immediately you notice the quiet reconciling conversation in the lyrics. It feels like a story is unfolding through simple words to tell something deeper, without obfuscation. The tone is calm, almost on the verge of breaking but remaining resilient. It's tense, on the verge of breaking down, and yet so upbeat and motivating. It's the most curious of all the tracks. I couldn't imagine it being called anything other than "Questions".
"Daisy Chain" I think hits a really bittersweet note. The passage of time, the imagery of nature, wanting to reconnect with someone who will still be waiting for you, whenever you arrive. It feels warm and familial. The hits from the soft drum rims, and the accordion always give this really big-hearted sound as told by the sounds of a small European village.
"Backyard" reminds me the most of Little Things lyrically, but it makes a really interesting connection. "Bury me with the backyard daisies". The song even features a lot of electric guitar (keep this in mind for later) and certainly stands out tonally from the other tracks. Perhaps "Backyard" says something about the homes we're given, as opposed to the places we find a true sense of comfort in. If our home is with a family where we feel guilt or disappointment, it's hard to reach that same feeling of self-assuredness.
"Roots, Rivers" is by far my favourite track, as I've explained in some detail during the Lazypines stoopTalk interview with Will and myself. It's so wonderfully poetic and vibrant, both lyrically and sonically. I love its depictions of nature and change. I love the boost to the sonic palette. I love the metric modulation (I'm a drummer and this stuff matters to me). This song feels like watching clay get thrown and seeing the pottery form with every movement. The new sounds of saxophone, banjo, violins, and glockenspiel don't feel out of place with rest of the EP at all, which I think is incredible given how different this song aims to be from the rest. It's all still so cohesive. It's a real treat of a song and to me is certainly a highlight of the EP.
After the warm organic sound of "Roots, Rivers", the sounds that close the album are the chilly hums of "City Sounds". This song I think is something really special. It puts a lot of this EP in perspective as wanting and dreaming of somewhere that we've been away from all this time. The electric guitar arpeggios and field recordings in the city streets create such a strong contrast from the previous use of acoustic instrumentation and nature imagery. The lyrics bring this out in a fantastic way too,
"Settle into all the noise, and blue lights from down the road / Hear the sound of your voice, call this song my new home"
The sadness of living somewhere you don't want to be, and the ways we try to escape it. The album covered so much ground prior to this. Living with someone you care about, living in the countryside, living with family, living off the land, and now living alone in the city.
All I can say is that this EP was a great experience, I sincerely look forward to more from Lazypines in the future, no matter the wait.
Daisies is available now on Bandcamp and streaming services.