(Originally published in Motley Magazine, May 2020)
The Kerry producer-bassist looks back to the New Wave
The worst question to ask an artist is “Where do you find your ideas?”
A better question to ask Kerry producer/multi-instrumentalist J.J. Lee would be “For God’s sake, where do you find the time?”
One of the hardest-working journeyman musicians in Cork, at one time or another he’s been bassist and/or producer to Laura Duff, Ghostking is Dead, Dry Roasted Peanuts, MESSYNG, Deadbog, Scenes and Craic Boi Mental, played indie rock, pure pop and North Kerry politico-electro-shitronic noise, and served as a gig promoter and PR of experimental acts in Teletext Records. One could say that it’s high time J.J. moved into the spotlight. If new single ‘All My Friends’ is any indication, one would be right.
Where April’s single ‘Sink’ was firmly rooted in the present, combining spoken word poetry with a vaporwavey sound and music video, ‘All My Friends’ looks to the past.
Citing New Order and The Human League as inspirations, it wraps a classic Peter Hook-style bassline around Sumner-esque vocals from Hey Rusty and a drumbeat from Cathal Histon of Bleeding Hearts Pigeons. The lyrics shout out to the lockdown that we’re all under at the moments, as Hey Rusty sings about his mates locked in their basements, losing their minds and sense of time. Not that any listeners could relate to that feeling, of course.
If you’ve been enjoying the throwback synthpop of Future Nostalgia and Blinding Lights, ‘All My Friends’ is a good shout for your next port of call.
‘All My Friends’ drops May 7th on Bandcamp and all streaming services (Spotify). ‘Sink’ is available now to buy or stream. The EP will be out this summer.