Bleach Lab - Nothing Feels Real EP Review
On ‘Nothing Feels Real’ Bleach Lab makes us feel things we’ve swept under the carpets of our hearts. It’s strangely freeing.
Bleach Lab is one of the best experiments that recently came out of the South London’s musical mish-mash. Since their debut single ‘Heartache of the Season’ until their first EP ‘A Calm Sense of Surrounding’, they’ve charmed us with soft-spoken dream-pop tackling serious emotional turmoil. Bleach Lab threads stories with silk and velvet translated into Jenny Kyle’s smooth vocals and enchanting melodies. Apparently, everyone wants to listen to their tales as they’ve just sold out a headline show at The Lexington. On top of that, today they’ve released their second EP, ‘Nothing Feels Real’.
Produced by the legendary Stephen Street (The Cranberries, The Smiths, Blur), the record brings back the best of mid90s shoegaze. Bleach Lab mastered the art of making melancholy with a modern twist so it feels both nostalgic and contemporary. We get the taste of their bittersweet medicine with the opening track, ‘Real Thing’ that grasps our hearts straight away. Suddenly, we’re back to the 2010s on an indie movie’s set and one confession away. ‘Real Things’ doesn’t dress desire in fancy words as Jenna Kyle sings simply, ‘I really want to see you again/I want to be more than friends’. In ‘Violet Light’, the band stays in a love realm but on a heavier note. They tell a story of a man who has lost a part of his soul and is turning into a ghost, haunting his mourning family. Bleach Lab doesn’t judge but asks questions of why. They’re dream-pop spectators to the whole scene. ‘Inside My Mind’ is a crystal-clear composition, filled with comforting melodies for an overheated head. Bleach Lab dissects all the depressive thoughts one might have and try to make a sense from the inner mess, ‘Standing on the other side / try to understand my mind’. ‘Talk It Out’ tries to open up a dialogue to let the demons out but ends up vocalizing the need for an escape to brilliant instrumental. It feels like a breeze. A long-awaited one. Bleach Lab leave us a little bit emotionally shattered with ‘Then I Know’, a shoegaze symphony on difficulties of setting romantic boundaries. It’s best when listened to the setting Autumn sun and while scrolling your love-lost's feed.
Bleach Lab brought us on a verge of something new. Like early Wolf Alice, they’ve clawed onto our hearts and there’s no chance for letting go. They’ll tear it apart, piece by piece and we let them do it. After all, it feels so satisfying.