The new Project Overload album
Review
It's been a couple of years now since Project Overload released their debut album ‘New Beginnings' but to place that into context, not only were they the first of the young bands emerging from the "Live On Stage" project which The Tin and Coventry Music put together, but in that time, none of the subsequent bands from it have yet had an album: and lord knows you'll be aware from my articles & word on the street how wonderful many of those are. It's totally understandable why at this stage in burgeoning careers, quality control of original material results in high quality singles. Therefore the fact that Project Overload put out their sophomore album this week is particularly fascinating.
I must qualify this fact a little too: great as ‘New Beginnings' is (see my original review), in some ways it might be considered a transitional record (can a debut also be a transition? Well I come to expect the unusual dealing with the truly creative) given that it captured the band during a period of change as original members Holly Dark (vocals) and guitarist Marcus North were replaced by Emily Birtwistle and Lucas Male respectively, joining founders Tom Male (guitar), Callum Hall (bass) and Joe Friday (drums). Therefore their self titled second album is the first wholly conceived & delivered by the fantastic five whom their ever growing legion of fans consider Project Overload to actually "be".
The intervening period has been one of tremendous growth for the band, indicated by regular singles releases (and that's never easy to maintain when members have other serious study & work commitments) and gigs.
Some of these, such as "Silhouettes", "Wildfire" and "Late Night Dancing" are here to give you a little bit of familiarity to get started but they also, taken together, send the strongest of signals about the creative trajectory of Project Overload.
The "bright janglepop with sharp elbows" which characterised their initial breakthrough was so infectious and effective a calling card that continuing a while longer in that vein would have been understandable. Many music industry figures probably would have advised that. However these musicians have bigger visions than that & consolidation can be achieved without the resort to repetition. This album is a significant step forwards & upwards and if the jangle is still occasional there & they jab with their elbows from time to time still, these are now merely several items in their repertoire: as the staggering diversity of that trio of taster singles demonstrated eloquently. And now there are another eight songs to broaden that yet further.
The one area where cynical management might suggest such diversification is in widening an artist's demographic reach but anyone who has met Project Overload will laugh at the notion of calculated moves like that: they certainly plan & work hard but remain delightfully grounded individuals whose every move into new musical areas is purely for the joy of exploration. This personal authenticity & integrity is another facet of their attraction & will stand them in great stead as their career reaches each new stage.
So: I'd better name those other songs hadn't I? Though I expect they'll become rather familiar to you quite soon. They are "Waiting for Nothing to Happen" "Groovy", "Watch Me Try", "Fade Away", "Bite My Tongue", "Straight In", "4:3" and "Slide Slow". Some you may already know from live shows (though Project Overload tend to perform tunes long before giving them their definitive titles so they may not have announced them under these names before) while others are even fresher. In the words of Tom "some of the songs on ‘Project Overload' have been in our live set for months so they're like old friends, but it feels like we're still getting to know the newer ones like "4:3", "Fade Away" and "Slide Slow". We like them a lot but they don't sound like the old us. Like the best new relationships, they're taking us somewhere exciting and unfamiliar."
Within these are other tales of growth which need to be celebrated. The issue for all bands, which is exacerbated by the more members they have is how dynamics of development affect the whole. Most often, some members evolve at quicker rates than others which has certain effects and inevitably evolution in different directions has certain others. The great news here is that you can easily detect growth in technique and confidence in all five and you can also see how this feeds beneficially back into the collective. It's fascinating to see how each is developing their own unique role within the whole. This is a band built on collaboration and not competition.
The two who joined last epitomise this: the story of Project Overload would already sound very different & I'll be blunt, probably not be where it is today had they not become part of it. Lucas, though the youngest, has grown into not only a significant role in the vocals, adding a new layer of possibilities, but has initiated more and more of the music. Equally Emily, already bearing the load of being the main focus live, is responsible for the group's lyrics. She has quite rightly received plaudits already for her charismatic singing but it's high time that she got the credit she deserves for this aspect too: the songs tell potent stories & she writes them ("it's definitely harder than it looks" as Lucas puts it).
The three founders have created for themselves more background roles in regards to what you notice first live (I do urge you when checking out bands to zoom in on the subtle aspects as well as the overt) and they are crucial parts in this stylistic diversification of the group. I'm sure this itself has a number of aspects within it. One must be the length of time they've played together and the mutual trust in each other to move onwards from their initial style. Another presumably is their individual development of musicians to play differently. A third is that they bring differing interests to the table: as Tom says "our influences are pretty diverse and I don't think any of us like the same sort of music which might be the reason why we don't really sound like anyone else. Or maybe it's just that no-one else sounds like us." Which is great. That's how The Clash moved on from punk to their masterpiece of ‘London Calling', a double album of stunning variety reflecting the sounds each member enjoyed.
Produced once again by their mentor Mason Le Long who encouraged them to go further & further & experiment with new textures: which is why you'll hear synths, improvised percussion, samples, spoken word, harmonies, bird song, organ, glockenspiel, strings and found sound above & beyond the basic ingredients.
Both "Waiting for Nothing to Happen" and "Watch Me Try" reflect Lucas's growing role given his lyrical composition & even more obviously his lead vocals. Now fans of his other band, the wonderful Loophole will already be aware of his abilities in this direction but what other group who are building a fine reputation with a brand identity including a female lead vocalist would actually start their album by subverting expectations? Well a clever & confident one of course. Hat raised again.
The album can be seen in a whole bunch of contexts, another one of which is how despite the unity & tightness of the quintet, there are internal diversities which enrich the songs. One is definitely how being a woman is in 2026 and "avoiding the creeps" etc but there is also the fact that during composition, the members were in the middle of differing life experiences from college to the workplace & still being at school. This variety fuels the songs as different members hit different milestones.
As the build up to release gains momentum (and indeed while I have been writing this article, "Fade Away" has not just made its debut on radio via BBC Introducing, sharing its slick grooviness to the good listeners of the West Midlands but been dubbed "Track of the week". Lush & embracing this one makes superb use both of the possibilities of contrasting female & male vocals and the developed chops of the instrumentalists. The sharp elbows have been packed away for this one.
Talking of grooviness, one of the other new tracks is, as I have said, actually entitled "Groovy" and of course it is. The elbows are back out again in force for this one and if you've seen the band live over the last year or so you'll recognise this one as a set highlight as Emily lays right into givers of unwanted attention with all her might & disdain, amplified by the band at their most Overloaded. This one really screams out "single" but given the distance they've travelled recently even this peak may have receded for them in the face of the recent material. However hardcore Projecteers will be as delighted as I am to finally obtain the studio version.
"Bite My Tongue" is a good example of their taking their essential attitude & delivering via the prism of a further range of textures: not losing what they have but factoring in a sort of New York New wave edginess with the guitars in particular biting hard.
"Straight In" which follows "Bite My Tongue" directly in the album's sequence acts as a sort of equilibrium corrective as it epitomises the confidence they now have in showing their unabrasive side (like with "Silhouettes") with a piece of pure, harmonised pop as sure footed as Altered Images or The Primitives.
However if "Straight In" exemplifies an aspect of the band which has developed over the past year & is flourishing alongside their initial sound, then "4:3" is more of a sonic paradigm shift moment and by itself takes them to a new level: this song in particular encapsulates the spirit of experimentation alluded to above. Think of it as their own "Fade Away & Radiate".
This sort of thing would normally close most albums but Project Overload sneak "Slide Slow" in even after "4:3": probably because it's also extremely strong and progressive. In fact it leads me straight into my final point: how ‘Project Overload' may be seen as a (self) emancipatory project by Project Overload. Across the album, the eclectic cornucopia liberates Emily & Lucas' vocals, Tom & Lucas sound delighted to range into new territory with guitar parts, Joe can go from full on thunder with "Groovy" to showing how light his touch can be & on "Slide Slow", as with "Late Night Dancing", Callum has the opportunity to lead the band and remind listeners just how good he is & as central to the band as all the other elements: counterpoising in this instance Emily demonstrating the power of vocal understatement. An elegant & eloquent ending.
You can get to meet Project Overload at Just Dropped In Records in FarGo on Saturday 28th February between 2 & 3 and hear the album: they will also have copies & merch with them to fully meet your needs.
Then on Friday 13th March the band are at The Tin for the official launch gig: tickets are available via this link here:
