Formed in 2019, Lawne is the result of a meeting of minds between old friends and self confessed music nerds Joe Nicklin and Joe Martin. Their sound draws upon myriad influences with dub, electronics, hip hop, psych, jazz, post-punk and Afrobeat all somehow ingrained within the mix.
The Huge Balloon is the final single to be taken from the pair’s debut LP and is perhaps the truest representation of what the duo are about so far, as Joe Nicklin explains:
“I love this song because it draws really evenly from all of our influences. Blown out, psyche drums, Fela inspired keyboard runs, Mark Speer style guitars and bright, dancey synths to bring it back to where it all started for us. Just like there was with Mamasong, there are a few versions of The Huge Balloon knocking around, but this time instead of rearrangements or starting from scratch, we looked much more to the instrumentation to solve any problems. For example, if the song was veering too far in one direction, we’d add instruments or treatment that drew from the opposite end of our pool of influences. In doing this, I feel like we’ve made something that is one of the closest representations of what Lawne is to date.”
Joe Martin explains why this song in particular, is so important to him:
“As with many of the tracks on the record, The Huge Balloon developed from a drum loop Joe sent me in lockdown. The chorus was the first part I wrote and is the only section that remains from the first few versions; I then centered the rest of the tune around that. We have a few tracks that run through without any reception or feature drastic shifts in feel or tempo but The Huge Balloon is a lot more direct and straightforward. It has a unique place on the record, I like how it keeps things moving without having to veer too far off piste.”
Comparing Lawne’s sound to that of Mildlife, Nu Genea, Harvey Sutherland and Khruangbin wouldn’t be far off the mark, but such contemporaries form only part of the duo’s sonic soundscape as Fela Kuti, The Beach Boys and Herbie Hancock also weigh heavy on their repertoire, as Joe Nicklin explains:
“I had been working mainly as a live session drummer for a few years and missed being able to get my teeth into a project of my own, collaborating and building something that reflects my influences from the ground up. I knew Joe (Martin) a bit from home in North Oxfordshire but we reconnected after both moving to London and decided to start sending ideas back and forth shortly after. Originally we set out to make dance music with live instrumentation, but a shared love of psychedelic, jazz-funk and hip hop eventually saw our music also reflect these styles.”
Joe Martin goes on, “I’d been engaged on a solo electronic project for a few years but soon began to miss working collaboratively and writing music with instruments rather than creating solely on a laptop. I knew Joe from home and when he asked if I wanted to get together to make some music, it seemed like the perfect time. We’ve spent the last couple of years exploring different sounds and trying our best to work outside of our comfort zone; listening to a wider range of material as well as incorporating that into our own music.”
Is it Balearic? Quite possibly.
Reactions & Radio Play
Radio support from Huey Morgan (BBC 6 Music), Bill Brewster (NTS Radio), Mark GV Taylor (Reference Point, Totally Wired Radio), B Side Sessions (Soho Radio), DJ Nelson (Sunny South Beats, Power FM), Shapeshifting Jazz Apple playlist, Slow Music Movement – Slow Grooves Playlist, The Pressure Drop Show, Tiago Santos (Radio Oxigenio), KEXP – Rotation playlist, OCB – Only Cool Beats playlist, The Magic Roundabout hosted by Andy Williams CKUT 90.3FM Montreal, Canada.
“One of my favourite groups at the moment.” Bill Brewster (Lowlife / NTS)
“Yes Psyche!!” DJ Soulist (Various, France)
“Brilliant as always. Love Lawne!” Olivier Cavaller (De La Bonne Musique, France)
“Hmmmm Balearic! Possibly .. Nice stuff” Raj Selli (Solar Radio, London)
“Great!!!” Makala (Global Funkers, Boom Shaka Laka Radio Show, Spain)
“Another promising impression from the announced album – can’t wait!” Sven Thomschke (Radio Z 95.8, Germany)
“Super!” Veronique Prebolin (Radio Krimi & Mosaïque FM, France)
“Very nice!” Chris Read (BBE, So Much Soul, Classic Material, Breakin Bread)
“Simply wonderful” Måns Strömberg (Radio Helsinki Radio YLE 1, Finland)
“Love it!” Chris Greenwood (Louie Louie, Soas Radio, Mi-Soul Radio, London)
“PURE VIBES!” DJ Kobayashi (Soho Radio, B-side Sessions, Batov Records, London)
“Groovy relax.” Jean Marc Baehler (Radio Television Suisse Romande Couleur 3, Switzerland)
“LOVE THIS!!!” DJ Junior (Eavesdrop Radio WKDU 91.7FM, Philadelphia)
“Killer.” Oliver Brunetti (Boom Music, Colectivo Futuro, LDN, London Fields Radio, Shutterbug, London)
“Great stuff!” Ubbo Gronewold (Radio Show, Mannheim, Germany)
“Choon!!!” Markus Milz (Further in Fusion Radio Corax 95.9FM, Germany)
“Love it! Very Balearic!” Enrique Domenech (Freeforms Podcasts, Spain)
“Nice one” Tjerk Coers (Armada Music, Netherlands)
“Great release” Alena Arpels (Various, UK)
“Lawne cut the mustard again!” Jim McMaster (TNGC Radio, UK)
“Groovy! Yes!” DJ Soulist (Various, Paris)
“Love that track” Amar Kabouche (Fauve Radio, Hong Kong)
“Love it, will be playing!” Jason Pulaski (Kuci 88.9 FM, California)
“This is such a deep mix from Afro – dub – 60s twang and more” Gerry Hectic (60 Million Postcards, You And The Music (YATM) Blog, Bournemouth)
“Lovely sweet-groovy-tune” Cesare Cera (Nu Lounge / Gru Radio / Radio Fujiko / Ex-Forno / Radio Bologna Uno, Italy)
“Lovely track. Happy and full of energy.” DJ Expression (Whats Hot Radio, UK)
“Great” DJ Lamp (Coalition, The Hub, Radio Reverb, Coastway Radio, Brighton)
“Great track again” Robert Lochmann (Radio X, Frankfurt; Radio D59B, Belgrade, Berlin)
“Great tune” Rado Tomek (Radio_FM / Nu Spirit Bar, Bratislava, Slovakia)
“Great track!” Tiago Santos (Radio Oxigenio, Portugal)
“Genreless quality that I like” DJ Abbo (Stomp Radio
“There is something about having that raw live sound of instruments combined with a synth solo. Really catchy solo work on the keys, they stand out gracefully on the track complementing the underlying groove.” Nelson Ramalho (The Weekend Warm Up, Power FM, Ireland)
“Cool track” DJ Angola (No.8, XL, Space Ibiza NYC, 1 Oak Southampton, London)
“Banger! Spinning on the show!” Danny Payne (CJLO 1690AM, The Pressure Drop, Montreal)
“Well done” Lorenzo Al Dino (Jockey Club Ibiza, Tiburon Formentera, Royal Plastic Radio Show Ibiza, Lust & Leben Magazin, Ibiza)
“Süpernice!” Ralf Zitzmann (Cumberlandsche Galerie, Agogo Records, Germany)
“Very nice” Timos Koklas (Reverb Nation, Greece)
“Sunshine!” DJ Mr Lob (Various, Melbourne)
“Good track here.” Mark Johnson Radioreverb 97.2FM Brighton and 1BTN 101.4FM, UK)
“I looooove it!” Dobromir Marzov (The ’45 RPM’ Radio Show on Radio Varna, Bulgaria)
“Lovely groove to this – enjoyed all of the LAWNE stuff, thank you.” Steve KIW (1 Brighton FM, UK)
“A cracking instrumental with clear psychedelic influences in istrumentation, development and production.” DJ Drummie Dave (Various, UK)
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.