Words by Ran Xu
There is a certain magic to the Brighton-based quartet Lime Garden, and it is captured beautifully in their sophomore record Maybe Not Tonight. Following their debut album One More Thing, Maybe Not Tonight builds upon the band’s discography with a striking boldness, establishing them as one of the most refreshing and promising bands in the UK. It listens like an ode to your 20s in all of its hedonism and uncertainty, dreams and fears and thrilling freedom.
Opening with ‘23,’ vocalist-guitarist Chloe Howard conjures the image of a looming adulthood and the sense of loss that accompanies growing older – having the world in your hands at 17 and losing it at 23. One of the first singles released off the album, it sets the tone for the high-energy, infectiously dancey and sometimes dizzying tone of the work, reminiscent of a “night out from start to finish.” The rush of tracks like ‘Cross My Heart’ and ‘Downtown Lover’ are the peak of the night. Howard’s vocals are whirlwinds on the dancefloor, and accompanied by Leila Deeley’s guitar, Tippi Morgan’s bass, and Annabel Whittle’s (who also did a great deal of production on the record) drumming, keep the listener rapt and spinning.
Then there is the more vulnerable side of the record. ‘Body’ is raw and honest, capturing the heavier musings we’ve all had about insecurities and how it is to exist in our bodies in the modern world – “I hate the way my body looks, too,” Howard sings. “I hate the way I’m looking at you, you look so beautiful…” ‘All Bad Parts,’ another title track, is equally as self-reflective, channeling what Howard deemed a dark time in her life and juxtaposing the insidious experience of relying on something – or someone – as a lifeline with the lightness of a pop song adorned with playful “eughs,” one that you can dance to endlessly.
‘Always Talking About You’ is a string of confessions. It is brutally and deliciously unapologetic. “I wanna get away with murder/And I wanna get away with sin/I wanna be an arsehole and I still want to win.” ‘Do You Know What I’m Thinking‘ is the ribbon that gorgeously ties the album together, the comedown of the night out that Maybe Not Tonight encapsulates. “Am I destined for life alone/Because I can’t face being under control?” It’s a narrative of falling into bed with dawn only an hour away, the room slightly spinning and life all of a sudden feels so big and so small and so profound, all at once. To grow older—and to simply exist—is not without fear and grief, but through this record, Chloe Howard urges listeners to “embrace the chaos.”
Lime Garden return to the US this fall. Catch them at Elsewhere Zone 1 on November 6.
Listen to Maybe Not Tonight