Not so long ago, a journalist named Paul Lester wrote a blog for The Guardian titled, "New Band of the Week" where he highlighted a new artist every week that had the makings for greatness. Sadly, that blog is no longer active, but in its absence, I will be attempting to create much of the same brand of content that Lester wrote.
I will shamelessly call this blog, the "New Artist of the Week," as a way of being original.
This week's featured artist is named Let's Eat Grandma.
It is more of a departure from the norm than it is a casual listening experience. From the opening piano of "Rapunzel," it is obvious we are in for a lot more than your standard, trippy dream pop. This is Alice In Wonderland in Space. Though this writer is inexperienced with psychotropic drugs, I imagine Let's Eat Grandma delivers a similar experience.
The music itself is a blend of organic and synthetic influences. Piano and string instruments like the mandolin blend with atmospheric synth tones very nicely. The high-octave lead vocals echo the audible pleasantries of Lauren Mayberry (CHVRCHES).
Lyrically, the debut LP executes the indie-pop success formula: complex verses and simple choruses. From incoherent tirades to psychedelic transcendence, Let's Eat Grandma definitely makes you curious and makes you think.
Many indie blogs will label new artists as "cool" even if they rely on the same lyrical tropes and sounds of safe pop starlets like Alessia Cara and the tragically awful (and somehow popular) Halsey. Let's Eat Grandma are just cool, finding a way to innovate a lead vocal sound that so many other female singers out there today are implementing by fusing it with their subconscious lyrics and broad arrangements.
Pictured above: The cover art for "I, Gemini."
It's hard to imagine this duo's career being very long. I project an album or two before either or both of them begin a new project. That does not demerit the value of the music at hand, but if true, then quite the contrary. It makes "I, Gemini" and whatever future works that Let's Eat Grandma has up their sleeve all the more precious.
Hopefully, this is the first stage in their career metamorphosis and we truly get to see them bloom into something monumental. Right now, their greatest strength is their potential. They are just relatable enough for feels but just weird enough to surprise us.