"Holding On" by Lemon Boy and Last Man Standing
ReviewFresh out is the latest collaboration between Lemon Boy & Last Man Standing and together with their previous release, ("Starting To Fall"), "Holding On" will be one of the tracks on their EP.
Last time out, I made the error of trying to work out which of them was responsible for which aspect of the track: not wholly successfully as it happens. Therefore on this occasion, I'll simply go for the whole as an entity and celebrate it for what it is, and not a collection of inputs: for as J R R Tolkien put it, "..he that breaks a thing to find out what it is, has left the path of wisdom".
Their compatibility, as suggested before is very productive and they certainly seem to be working towards similar musical goals: that their skill sets align and overlap to a greater extent than I originally imagined may (presumably) give rise to interesting creative discussions around "who does what" when either might plausibly do many of the writing & performing roles available, but in the end it really doesn't matter too much to the reviewer, let alone the listener.
If you've been following Lemon Boy's musical career to date, you can probably anticipate the general sound: both the delicate ambience of the substantive arrangement & the subtleties & nuances of the textural additions which you become more & more aware of as the song progresses.
The main symbol is in fact a fly, whose buzzing symbolises some sort of caustic & irritating circumstances & memories. This is contrasted with images of going to the sea in order to drown this out & find safe and tranquil mental & emotional harbour. However Luke & Chechu also offer the suggestion that however disturbing memories may be, it might be preferable to retain a little of them for strengthening oneself for challenges to come, rather than attempting to obliterate them completely & hence not process them positively: is sticking your head in the sand all that great a plan?
Complex yet realistic reasoning, the words tell of frustration, stress & turmoil which is rather set against the blissed out soundscape: and as regular readers will know, that sort of contradiction provides a tension & dynamic which I always enjoy in a composition.
Subtle & nuanced music for minds which appreciate such things.