Strong and Quirky Indie
Morning Lane's bright indie certainly has all the ingredients to warm your soul on a cold spring morning, these London boys have brewed up nine tracks of refined melodic musing.
'Many Times' has a slightly scatty vocal feel and is full of youthful exuberance, which prevents the cheerful riffs from become too stagnant; raw and cutting this is certainly a good track to kick off with. 'Sweet Melodies' flows with similar ringing guitar notes before a bubbling off-kilter rap picks up the tune and turns your preconceptions of Morning Lane on their head.
Other tunes like 'Kurt's Ballad' are more slow-building; this track would be ever so slightly syrupy if it wasn't for its charming chorus including the immortal words, "Come as you are". 'Viciously' begins as more of a James Blunt creamy ballad, but takes a bitter melodic twist in the driving chorus.
'Disintegrate' is an acoustic recording with a more fragile tone, which certainly catches your ear as various vocals whirl around and the guitar's fretboard is pensively explored as if it's an unknown entity. The other acoustic mix on 'Cry With A Smile' is the awkward tale, 'Saved By The Day, "You live on the ground, and me I fly" sigh the vocals before the guitar brings in its own pained solo.
'In My Head' merges tortured vocal croonings with sharp and bitter guitars to create a memorable and catchy tune and it's all introduced by the most innocuous rap ever!
'Chill Pill' is full of eternal optimism and sweet chord progressions that recall The Stereophonics, it's not the strongest tune on the album but it's certainly a lovely melody that could grace the summer radio shows. 'Neverlast' is a mellow number which closes Morning Lane's debut album. 'Cry With A Smile' is brimming full of indie songs which take bitter twists and fail to just fit into the genre; if you're an indie fan looking for something a little different, you should definitely find a copy of this album.