Written By: Noam Asulin
Album review - Lady Silver - Circus Pop
Release date - 2.9.2022
Record compan - Digistage
Genre - רוק אלטרנטיבי/אינדי
"Lady Silver" comes from Tel Aviv. The band consists of Max Spon (vocals and guitar), Daniel Krichevsky (guitars), Gal Motiuk (bass and keyboards), and Nir Hakim (drums). The band was formed at the end of 2017 and started recording in 2018.
In 2019 the band released their debut EP, "Ladies First" and on Sep. 2022 released their full debut album, "Circus Pop", which is the subject of my review.
The band aims to bring British rock to the small country of Israel. Already in their debut EP, it was possible to notice many influences from bands like "Arctic Monkeys" and more. The band defines itself as influenced by bands Like "Queens of the Stone Age", "Foals", "Arctic Monkeys", "The Black Keys", "Mother's Cake" and more.
"Lady Silver" members note that on their debut album, they took the music in a slightly more modern direction, compared to their EP, released in 2019.
The album begins with the song "Wondershow" which was released as a single in April 2021. There is no doubt that already in the first song you can feel many British influences. Max, the lead singer, sounds strictly British. An interesting point is that he studied in Manchester, so the English sound very natural coming from him. Lyrically, the song talks about reality TV culture and voyeurism ("Come and Quench Your Thirst For Voyeurism Through a Socially Accepted Prism"). I can't help but relate to this as one who thinks reality shows and social media have just taken over our lives.
In the next song "News of the World" one might think that the singer is Alex Turner from "Arctic Monkeys". Max sings with a low and deep voice that is very reminiscent of Alex. The song talks about speculations that have been raised such as the possibility that the landing on the moon was not real, the earth is flat and China does not exist.
"Pigeons" starts with an intro that is very reminiscent of "Knights of Cydonia" by "Muse", from the album "Black Holes and Revelations". Immediately after comes a bouncy tempo with guitars that make me want to dance.
The fifth song "Honey" takes a more relaxed direction, but also talks about technology and how today everything is drained to followers on Instagram and that there is a lot of hatred from people who are just keyboard thugs. ("Carry on, Ignore the Haters, they're Just Keyboard Gladiators")
One of the strongest songs on the album for me is "Nothing Changes (But the Name of the City)". The song is very fun to listen to, the guitars sound wonderful and what makes the song special for me is the rhythm change that puts the song in a more theatrical direction, with violins that connect us directly to the next track "You Are the One".
The ninth song "Magic and Science" is in my opinion the strongest song on the album. Every time I listen to it I feel enchanted, just as the name of the song implies. The chorus is simply wonderful and infectious. This is a love song with a twist. When I asked Max the singer about the meaning of the song, I was told that this song is a collection of his thoughts. The song tries to show the commitment and love one has towards music and at the same time a romantic love that is equal in importance and passion to the love of music. Max chose to incorporate paraphrases from songs he admires such as "I Never Loved Anything Until I Loved You" by "Queen of the stone age". You can totally hear it in the line "I Don't Think I Loved Anything Until I Met You".
Max explains that the scientific part of love is the chemicals in the brain, and music is also a form of mathematics. Not being able to understand why it's so exciting is the magical part of the whole thing.
You can notice that the album is divided into two parts. The first part talks about reality technology and culture and shows a dark side. The second part of the album tries to end it on a more optimistic note, with the help of love and romance songs.
In conclusion, I think that the members of "Lady Silver" definitely kept their promise for music that gives a serious British rock vibe, with influences like "Arctic Monkeys", "Muse" and more. You can't go wrong with it. The messages in the songs make the album not only fun to listen to, but also very interesting. The album reflects the shortcomings that technology and the desire for peeking into the life of others have brought with them and reflects on the problems related to adoration, emptiness, and baseless speculations.
Before ending, I must mention the wonderful production of the album and Max's dominant vocals. This is an album that sounds and feels international, with a production that would not embarrass large international bands.
If you like British rock you absolutely need to give this album a listen.
to listen: Deezer, Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube Music