GUEST SINGER release synth-pop cut ‘Think Face’ & announce ‘Limbo Days’ EP

GUEST SINGER release synth-pop cut 'Think Face' & announce 'Limbo Days' EP

Guest Singer announces sophomore EP ‘Limbo Days’ with new single ‘Think Face’, released via tastemaker label Heist or Hit (Her’s, Pizzagirl, Nature TV) on January 14th.

A luscious, sprightly synth-pop cut it follows recent downer-anthem ‘FOMO’ in ushering a new era for the Doncaster based trio, led by sardonic frontman Jake Cope. A Lynch-esque murkiness inhabits their world. They dexterously peel back the façade of the every day to reveal the eerie in the intimately familiar. Taut pop hooks, glitchy bass lines, new wave guitar stabs and electronic dance are soaked in the combustible elegance of Cope’s delivery.

Alongside France Lahmar (Bass) and Paul Burdett (Guitar), the creative process is a collaborative endeavour, removed from a studio setting. Songs are programmed like dance tracks, layers evolving over time, morphing into the moody synth-pop cuts they’ve become – taking cues from the lyrical cadences and themes as they grew-up. Sonically, the resulting EP has a digital engine. An artifice of instrumentation that is offset by the hauntingly vulnerable timbre of Cope’s poetry and voice.

“Why can’t we just skip to the part where we all get what we want?” he croons on ‘Think Face’, an anthem for the socially disenfranchised. Rather than voice the voiceless, the song instead acknowledges how reductive digital living can be; the pressure to constantly market one’s own lifestyle and cram all of our complexities and inner conflicts into the vessel of an emoji. Articulating that our fears, anxieties, loves and disagreements are not snackable content but unending narratives.

“Essentially, it’s about the emotional effort of songwriting,” Cope proclaims “How it can snare you in a psychologically abusive relationship with yourself; requiring so much identity and only offering up small moments in return. When the music fades all that we’re left with is limbo days.”

Listen to ‘Think Face’ – BELOW:

The last line referencing the title of the upcoming EP, which peers beneath the veneer of social media ‘accomplishments’ to explore the contrasting realities of those competing in the lifestyle Olympics. A reluctant Olympian, he finds himself caught between the reality of being in a band and his digital presentation of that existence. Flawless on-screen personas and energetic copy buckle under the tremendous weight of boredom and the banality of domestic predictability.

The mechanical process and themes that are on-the-surface pretty bleak, bely the warmth imbued in the tracks. Guest Singer are all about juxtaposition. Takes on vapid social media constructs are delivered with emotional depth and pinpoint satire across the lyrics, sounds, and visuals, and themes taking in the lower points of the human condition still glisten with hope.

With this well-honed, sophisticated approach they’ve turned the eyes and ears of industry gatekeepers like DIY Magazine, The Line of Best Fit and Clash, with BBC Introducing supporting strongly, and a live show growing in stature and acclaim, taken on tour with Her’s and Team Picture.

‘Think Face’ by Guest Singer is out on January 14th via Heist or Hit ahead of new EP ‘Limbo Days’, out on February 14th.

Xsnoize Author
Mark Millar is the founder of XS Noize and looks after the daily running of the website as well as hosting interviews for the weekly XS Noize Podcast. Mark's favourite album is Achtung Baby by U2.

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