There’s a relatively new band in Brighton! They are called ‘congratulations’ (note lower case ‘c’) and they will be dropping their new single ‘Lucy Lucy’ on 4th March and holding a single release party at the Green Door Store on Wednesday 9th March – Keep your eyes peeled for tickets!
‘Lucy, Lucy’ is a track anchored on its relentless, crushing beat, provided by powerhouses Greg Burns and James Gillingham, which was birthed from late night sessions chopping breakbeats and tinkering with homemade fuzz pedals. This is juxtaposed by the Prince-esque croon from Leah Stanhope and Jamie Chellar, carving out interesting, odd melodies amongst the drum and bass din.
congratulations get to exhibit their wide taste in music on ‘Lucy, Lucy’, taking influence from harder hip hip records in the sound and production, but simultaneously showing off their love for the likes of The Beatles and The Beach Boys in the harmonies scattered generously across the song. The track constantly shifts, side stepping genres, from the hooky chorus guitars to the harder middle and outro sections, where the bass is so stacked, it threatens to knock the needle out of the groove.
How do congratulations describe themselves? Imagine the eclectic mix of Kate Bush if she did a duet with Prince, backed by The Beastie Boys. “We’re keen to avoid pigeonholing ourselves- we like the idea of free flowing influences in every track, letting anything and everything seep through – that way they always come out sounding like us” says Greg, who also produced the song.
Holed up for over a year in various sheds and bedrooms- and very occasionally a studio- congratulations have honed their craft, writing and recording nearly an albums worth of material, ‘Lucy, Lucy’ being the first track to be shown to the world, with all four members meticulously involved in every aspect of the recording, production, and artwork.
“We do work really hard at it all, and we all have opinions so it can be tricky to please everyone, but it’s never really stressful or unpleasant because at the core of everything, we always try and have fun. We’re always laughing. We’ve all done the ‘serious band’ thing and this isn’t that!” comments Jamie. It’s true; you can actually hear laughter off mic in ‘Lucy, Lucy’, you can see it in the way the band dress, decorating themselves in bright colours.
“The best music has to have some level of self awareness, we always want to be able to laugh at ourselves” adds Greg. “There’s definitely a space in rock music at the moment for that refreshing kind of mentality, do what you love but don’t take yourself so seriously”
You can find congratulations on Instagram and learn more HERE.
