"Flamingo" by Lemon Boy
ReviewA few weeks ago, on the recommendation of Callum Ward of ‘Hot music Live Presents' artists Free Galaxy, I reviewed the Kenilworth based musician Lemon Boy's single "Square Times".
Now (today in fact) Lemon Boy (Luke Bates) has brought out "Flamingo" and as with its predecessor, you are not going to find too many similarities with other music out there currently: certainly it stands alone within our own local scene. Again like "Square Times", the aural picture drawn owes far more to the Far East where Luke spent formative time than it does to the staples of mainstream popular music. The instrumentation is either eastern in origin or cleverly treated & played to evoke eastern instruments & naturally the structure tends to respect the sounds. Percussion again is a key element, that is to say tuned, delicate percussion rather than driving drums & stringed melodies drift in & out in various textures like soft rain falling on bamboo roofs.
As elegant & graceful as the bird which is the subject of the track, "Flamingo" has lyrics as gently repetitive as a mantra & as succinct & to the point as a haiku.
We rightly applaud the (current) diversity of the local music scene: this is a great time for such breadth of vision. Much of the diversity comes from local musicians whose imagination & sense of personal purpose ensures that their music tends to the unique & is hence differentiated from the other equally creative minds around them. However, occasionally it derives from those with different experiences & visions which like Lemon Boy's, thoroughly enrich the tapestry of what we have available to listen to. I said last time that I'd be following his work with great interest & I hope you do too. Quite coincidentally too, it tends to chime with our current circumstances: at least to my ears it does offer comfort & hope.