Lovely Assistant sound like a band out of time. As for exactly when time that was it’s hard to say, but they definitely don’t sound like every other indie pop group you come across in 2020. That’s a good thing too. Among other things, they cite “torch songs of the fifties” as one of their primary influences, but really they could have slipped through some kind of crack in the fabric of spacetime at any point during the last 50-60 years.

Opening with a direct vocal, some very minimal electric guitar, and a distinctly 60s-sounding rhythm section reminiscent of Burt Bacharach or the Walker Brothers; frontman Kieran Rafferty’s lyrics soon draw you into an interesting spin on the perils of courtship, with lines such as “She told me she’s tired of guys who are clever and cool / I’ve put time aside to do press-ups for Juliet / Surely that would be enough to win your heart”. They’re clever, playful, and capture the anxieties around relationships (or prospective ones) really well. Combined with a wandering melody and some really subtle playing, it’s impressive.

I really love the arrangement. It’s totally a cliché to say that there’s nothing there that shouldn’t be, but in this case it’s true. The guitar is a great case in point: gently plucked notes resonate, chords are stroked delicately and just hang there in empty space, and there are some beautifully played jazzy accents that bring a heap of finesse to the song. Lovely Assistant are a band that understand that not everything has to be firing on all cylinders all the time. The same applies to the backing vocals and harmonies too. A real highlight of Some Press-ups for Juliet is the blend of Rafferty and Annie Griffith’s voices, and it’s neat how they inhabit the two characters in the song. There’s a real warmth to Griffith’s voice in particular, and the middle eight that she delivers puts me in mind of Laura Marling. It’s a strange thing, but I get a clear image of Marling singing on a King Creosote track. The overall effect here is not a million miles away.

The song ends, after a majestic bridge complete with full-band harmonies, with an instrumental coda that plays out for over a minute or so. It’s fast become my favourite part of the track, with emphasis on the understated rhythm section and some lilting, relaxed washes of guitar. Again, you get the sense that some bands just throw more and more layers onto a part just because they can, when it’s often far more effective just to rein it in a little and let things breathe. It’s the kind of song that sneaks out of the side entrance once the sun has set rather than bursting back out through the front in broad daylight, and it’s all the better for it. The instrumental ending is actually quite reflective of a band that don’t go for the obvious. In fact, with the gorgeous Some Press-ups for Juliet, Lovely Assistant reveal themselves to be anything but obvious, and anything but ordinary. Looking forward to the album.

---

You can find Lovely Assistant on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

* This track was discovered via Musosoup. A small fee was paid in exchange for publication. See ‘About / Contact’ page for more details.