Waking up to the nimble sideways, even curious melancholy joy of "Courts", by beloved Naarm/Melbourne indie art rocker Lewis Coleman, and I feel like I am floating. Lifted up by my shoulders and my legs and drifting away on fluid, sparkling guitar patterns that, at there essence have a 60's The Byrds vibe and even some Beatle-eee things meets Squeeze-esque things happening that is having me falling in love with this sound. There is a guitar, bass, drums dancing interplay that are totally jammy and adoringly whimsical. As a musician I love musical frameworks that sound both surprising and would be amazingly fun to play and you have that here in spades.
Coleman's voice is also incredibly charming and disarming as are his lyrics.
"Woke up to a jolt of love / Realized I didn't want to be parted / I couldn't wait to head around for dinner and say / That all I wanted was to be in their arms again..."
"Woke up to a jolt of love / Realized I didn't want to be parted / I couldn't wait to head around for dinner and say / That all I wanted was to be in their arms again..."
AND
"It didn't roll out like my simulation / I could feel my body fill with a sadness / It boiled up and made me spew out questions / failing to stick to on that I really meant, like / wait a minute, don't you love me as much..."
These questions are full of doubts and awkward anxieties of life, love and those intangible mysteries of where we begin and our counterparts begin. Right? Or, more to the exact point, as press notes reveal, this track is [Co-produced with Coleman's good friend Sam Cromack (Ball Park Music), “Courts” lays bare the anxieties and feelings of detachment and vertigo that arise from losing love.]
Reflecting on the song, “Courts is the stage of grieving when you desperately try to clutch back at something that has gone, washing over anything that was wrong”, says Coleman. Lyrically, it speaks to a disconnected state of mind, an intersection between limbo and self-realisation - “Wait a minute, don’t you love me as much? What if I just changed it up, made it work?”. Coleman journeys through inner dialogue, delicately reconciling moments in his past and arriving with bittersweet clarity as he ponders “Love’s not that clear / Love’s not that fair”.
"Courts" is supported by a wonderful and wonky Official Video as directed by Jack Ralph. Brand new record drops in a couple of days (October 27th).
-Robb Donker Curtius
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://open.spotify.com/artist/60DbHJTuagRRpkc9F4tDlJ
https://www.youtube.com/@lewmanchu1
https://lewiscoleman.bandcamp.com/music
https://www.instagram.com/lewiscolemanmusic/
https://www.tiktok.com/@lewiscolemanmusic
Beloved indie art-rock artist Lewis Coleman (he/him) has emerged with his sophomore record, Offline, out November 3rd on new Naarm/Melbourne label Beloved Recordings. Hailed as a “bold new voice” (Clash Magazine) for his 2020 debut Method Of Places, Coleman's music is a blend of the abstract and melodic, combining elements that shift and morph around the listener with a hushed intensity, while always remaining grounded by a strong rhythm section. With Offline, however, Coleman has confidently deconstructed and reshaped the style for which he’s been known, elevating his songwriting with a foolhardiness and accepting a more confident and raw side of himself. It’s music replete with playful arrangements and kinetic opportunity and, as Coleman states, “songs that are hot, warm, saturated and fun”.
Between records, Coleman has become a preeminent collaborator, producing music for and performing with Mo’Ju, Ruby Gill, Kat Edwards, Darvid Thor, Gabriella Cohen and Coda Chroma. A generous, well (be)loved and similarly underrated musical gem in our community, he has comfortably come into his own. Offline is a strut with Coleman and his friends, it’s a top button undone and coarse indigo sheets, it's creased and complex like Coleman and can’t be ironed out.
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