Southend-on-Sea’s in earnest are an alt/indie three-piece consisting of front-couple Thomas Eatherton and Sarah Holburn, and Toby Shaer. Since their formation last year, they have self-released three singles – with the most recent being the excellent 29, released a couple of days ago and already picking up plaudits. The band describe their music as being “an exploration of mental health, nostalgia and hope vs hopelessness” and are quite keen for their music to promote discussion around difficult topics such mental illness. With that in mind, 29 – taken from their forthcoming self-titled EP, due on October 7th – is a poignant, powerful, and stripped-back rumination on the passing of time.

Largely acoustic and with little by way of embellishments – save for some of Shaer’s beautiful string work, the odd piano note, and some wonderful harmonies by Holburn – 29 possesses both a strong melody and some excellent lyrics. Eatherton notes on the band’s Instagram page that the song was written on his 29th birthday and details a number of childhood memories. There’s an abstract poetic quality to the writing, and the imagery is a joy throughout. One thing that stands out is juxtaposition of the relative mundanity of some of the lyrics (losing a jacket at the ice rink, stacking cutlery on his birthday) with a melody that slowly, but surely, builds to a fitting emotional crescendo.

I must admit that the first two in earnest singles slipped past me, but on the strength of 29 I’m interested to hear the EP. Right now there’s an awful lot of good music coming out of Southend, and clearly in earnest are no exception. In short: 29 is a beautifully-written and performed track that seems to give you a little more with every listen. I’m looking forward to hearing more from them.

---

You can find out more about in earnest on their Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.