Ladylike effortlessly blend folk and post-rock on emotional new single “Rome (in progress)”
Blending elements of folk and post-rock, the track “Rome (in progress)” commences with the delicate strums of a traditional nylon-string guitar. Georgia Butler’s gentle vocals begin with the poignant lyrics: “Rome wasn’t built with retired lungs / And heavy holding on to friends’ old words”.
Explaining the origin of the title, Butler reveals, “At first, the ‘(in progress)’ was just a placeholder on the voice note while we were working on the song, but it seemed fitting to retain it. It symbolizes the concept that one’s life journey is an ongoing process, never truly complete and always changing, with new relationships being built along the way.”
Prior to their upcoming performance at Best Fit’s Five Day Forecast music festival at The Lexington in London on January 14th, the Brighton band presents their latest single. Their debut EP, titled It’s a Pleasure of Mine, to Know You’re Fine, is scheduled for release on March 13th through Heist or Hit.
The group is comprised of Butler (vocals, guitar), Spencer Withey (vocals, guitar, synth), James Ely (drums), and Archie Sagers (six-string bass). Initially, Ely, Butler, and Withey were friends who later delved into making music together, while Sagers and Ely found common ground while studying the same course. Following a visit to End of the Road Festival one summer, they discovered a mutual interest in creating music together: “We just began jamming together, rehearsing in a recital room at the stark university campus. Now, we have upgraded to a cozy shared practice space that bears a faint scent of yeast from the neighboring bakery.”
The intricate layers of guitar melodies, rhythmic basslines, and pulsating drum beats form a complex tapestry of sound within the composition. The band discloses, “We have been incorporating acoustic guitar more into our songwriting lately; initially, we avoided it out of fear of being pigeonholed as ‘folk’. However, we have come to embrace the folk elements in our own unique way.” The intertwining of Withey’s and Butler’s vocals on the second verse infuse a sense of intimacy into the harmonious melody, vacillating between warmth and restraint.
While the vocals remain stripped-down and raw, the instrumentals shimmer with intricate complexity; textured guitar strings intertwine with a hypnotic drum groove and bassline. Recalling the genesis of the main riff, Withey shares, “I remember Georgia playing the main riff during a rehearsal session. We expanded it from a simple structure into something that evolved and transformed over time; we rearranged it multiple times before piecing it together anew.”
The introspective lyrics straddle the line between two adages: “Rome wasn’t built in a day” and “many hands make light work.” Despite their brevity, each line carries profound meaning. Reflecting on the lyrical content, Butler muses, “I felt that everything I wanted to express was encapsulated in those two succinct phrases. It serves as my way of challenging those age-old sayings and, in turn, questioning established narratives.”