All you need is love...
Brighton-based romantics Sweet Sweet Lies present The Hare, The Hound & The Tortoise, a record boasting as much slickness and style as the three-piece suits that preside over the band's wardrobe choices. The twelve-track album moves with a jaunty step and a mischievous twinkle in it's eye, winking at the ladies and watching them swoon. Yes, this is a study of love in all it's forms. Whether it be a sweet confessional to a long-kept beloved (Too Drunk To Love... also an excellent portrayal of the experience of intoxication) or the frustration of overwhelming admiration in the boozy folk of Capital of Iceland. It may be borne from a niche sound, but there is certainly content for every single lover of love to identify with.
It's hard to put Sweet Sweet Lies into a genre-box as their sound seems to experience metamorphosis at a number of points. They certainly come out swinging through Overrated Girlfriend, complete with double bass and mariachi horns that will inspire at least some toe tapping... but more likely wanting to pretend you're at a lindy hop in the 1940s. But this sense of dance gets abandoned in favour of the dramatic Winter of Discontent and Lady Deceit which sound more like the score from an old Western. From glad rags to ponchos and cowboy hats in one swift move? That's class.
But perhaps the more classic portrayals of romance are most apparent in the record's ability to lull. Valentine and Lizbet Blue shine in this moment of down time. Desperately tender moments are savoured through vocalist Dominic Von Trapp's warm, enriching tones that are as nectarous and golden as two honey bees enjoying a smooch. No-one Will Love You (Like I Do) is a highlight. It has the appearance of a textbook love song- beautifully smooth singing and a gentle guitar offset by soaring harmonies; but there is certainly a more 'real' resonance that sweetly echo through the lyrics. "They won't remember lifting you to put you in a cab when you were too drunk to walk". Well, that melted our heart anyway. It's these things that matter in the 21st century.
What is it to love? Well, Sweet Sweet Lies have it pretty much all worked out. The Hare, The Hound & The Tortoise demonstrates some really inventive musicianship as well as unravelling the age-old mysteries of the heart. It was an experience we thoroughly enjoyed.