New Music: Lemonade Sin – Murmurs and Creaks

If you ever wondered what the Class of C86 would sound like if recording today, Murmurs and Creaks is a sweet, sophisticated example.

Lemonade Sin – initially formed by the songwriting duo of Lee Friese-Greene and Simon Aldous – have a dark whimsy to them on Murmurs and Creaks. It has a delicate playfulness to it, one that is increasingly unmoored by the lyrics, inspired by the fictional pairing of Jane Eyre and Edward Rochester.

I also pick up the influence of another fictional duo – Heavenly and The Motorcycle Boy. Those bands grew from the embers of C86, confident and more willing to draw on but also move away from what became the classic 80s indie guitar sound, and build on that to absorb synths and experimental rock.

More familiar or contemporary comparisons for Murmurs and Creaks would be Stereolab, The Pastels, and Belle and Sebastian – indie that can rock out when it needs to, while never losing its charm.

Says the duo about the spooky lyrics, “Edward is anxious to assure Jane that the strange sounds she hears in the night are just ‘an old house’s murmurs and creaks.’ Spoiler alert: they weren’t!”

Murmurs and Creaks was produced by Lucy and Matthew Board of Pale Blue Eyes, and can be downloaded on Bandcamp. Lemonade Sin are set to release a new album, Nothing For A Pair, this spring – hit up their Facebook and Instagram feeds for details.