After several listens to this album, I put it aside and hoped I really wouldn't have to review it. But I soon realized that I have to tell people about this album--that I have to tear up the newest release from one of my most favorite bands, Lush.
What a disappointment I have found Lovelife to be. From all the pre-release chatter on the Internet, and others' attempts at describing of Lush's new sound, I tried to avoid expecting much. I wish I could make a lot of intelligent commentary about what Lush sounds like on this album, but from a true fan's more emotional viewpoint, it is basically just far more dry and meaningless than what I expected.
But what makes this album an atrocity is not just one single flaw, but a combination of failures. One problem is the full degeneration of the band's ability to create their trademark ambience, at least in the recorded format. The second is that most of their beautiful musical structure, nature of chords, song's progression, etc., are also lacking on Lovelife, and hence, so is the warmth and vivacity contained in previous works. The third is the set of trite, substandard lyrics Miki and Emma wrote for this album. You may even find yourself wondering, "is this the same band?"
The album revolves almost entirely around emotional turmoil in relationships. "Ladykillers" is about manipulative men. "Single Girl" presents the ups and downs of single life. "The Childcatcher" explores the problematic age gap in a relationship. "Ciao!" relates a very happy separation and features guest vocals by Jarvis Cocker of Pulp. "Olympia" is some kind of bittersweet song about life's difficulties.
The press release describes "Papasan" and "Tralala" as "exercises in heart-wrenching balladry." It's strange this is said when nothing on Lovelife matches the potency of previous "ballads" like "Never-Never" or "Desire Lines" from Split. Supposedly "'Ladykillers' and 'Single Girl' positively drip with adrenaline" and "'Last Night' [exudes] an affecting eerieness." Wrong again. Although "Ladykillers" and "Single Girl" are very catchy tunes, and the trippy, dark "Last Night" is the only example of Lush's classic musical ability on Lovelife, you still haven't heard adrenaline or eerieness unless you've heard Lush's Spooky.
Current fans may have a very hard time with Lush's sudden abandonment of that which made them a true stand-out, and so dear to those fans. By the same token, people enjoying Lovelife with no prior exposure to Lush may find themselves very disoriented upon listening to past releases. This is how Lovelife has created an unappealing gap in what is an otherwise impressive history. Even without referring back to Lush's exceptional previous work, Lovelife is, at best, nothing special.
No decent music fan expects a band to stay with the same style throughout their history, or to not jump to some other style. But what Lush has switched to is not a style so much as a current musical trend...a bad brew concocted either because the band really does like this sound, to sell more records, or because they forgot to show off their talent this time.
