"In Absence" by Lemon Boy
ReviewIf you enjoyed hearing the "elegant & graceful " (as our review described it) "Flamingo" by Lemon Boy on ‘Hot Music Live Presents Volume Four' then you'll be pleased to learn of his latest release "In Absence": his first since "Sea of Stars" back in September
Fortunately Lemon Boy (Luke Bates) is a very self sufficient artist and so has been able to create both this single & its predecessor despite the constraints of our times, being a musician who writes, performs & produces all his own work.
This time, like many of his peers, he feels he cannot escape comment on such times and so "In Absence" concerns itself with distance & separation from loved ones, specifically his own partner & the date of release is no idle selection but the day of their first anniversary.
As you might predict both from hearing his previous work & the emphasis of caring & humanity in the theme of the song, this is another gentle, wistful sounding song: the sort of mood he excels at evoking. Though still somewhat ethereal in tone for some parts of the track, given the earthly concerns of the subject matter, it does touch down on the ground a little more than usual, though it soon soars off again into more metaphysical heights. Memory & its reliability is a key area explored too.
Vast quiet acres define the sound, into which drift a variety of elements before they fade out again: perhaps his most personal vocal performance (that I've yet heard), although that is treated to be fairly other worldly, his trademark melodic use of percussion & various guitar parts: both eastern & western in origin. They all work together beautifully (as ever with Lemon Boy the spaces between them tell their own story as eloquently as the sounds) and by granting each its own periodic absence from the arrangement, its anticipated return is that much more welcome.
Hopefully "In Absence" will resonate with many of you: its story is something I'm sure we can all relate to at the moment & universality in a song is something which should add to its potency & longevity. I'll leave the last words to the artist himself: "remember sharing is caring"