GUEST SINGER explore the ennui of artistic downtime on new sardonic synth-pop EP ‘Limbo Days’
Out now via Heist or Hit (Her’s, Pizzagirl, Brad Stank)
Guest Singer release sophomore EP ‘Limbo Days’ via tastemaker label Heist or Hit (Her’s, Pizzagirl, Brad Stank) . Across it they explore the ennui of artistic downtime, lead by the sardonic takes of frontman Jake Cope.
The lead singles ‘FOMO’ and ‘Think Face’ tackled modern restlessness – the former ruminating on the titular fear of missing out of ‘something, someone, somewhere else’, whilst the latter zones in on how reductive digital living can be.
This is a continuing theme on the other tracks. Amid the communications boom Cope points out that people stopped listening to each other. “Here it is, the culture drift / drowning in the immediate” he sings on ‘Latest Nostalgia’, pointing the finger at the ‘refresh’ society; recognition that in pursuit of the present, we’re in danger of denying our past and future. Despite the apparent coldness of the observation, the song’s message carries a genuine warmth: there is no shame in your past being your future: “Can’t help this home town pine / it’s here that I am tied / it’s here I’ll probably die.” he sings.
From the personal to the political, ‘Do You Remember Where You Were When Nothing Really Happened?’ details a festival at the end of the world. Cope explains “despite the imminent demise of humanity, the cracked and broken ecology of the planet, some individuals still want make it about them. Someone would put on a festival. As if the spectacle isn’t enough. One last attention grab as we go down with the ship.” The trend of taking collective experiences and channelling them through the ego of subjectivity will result in Humanity’s final Fyre Fest. “I have no doubt that someone would try and be the promoter for the end of the world.”
A Lynch-esque murkiness inhabits Guest Singer’s world. They dexterously peel back the façade of the everyday 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.
With this well-honed, sophisticated approach they’ve turned the eyes and ears of industry gatekeepers like DIY Magazine, DORK, 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.
The ‘Limbo Days’ EP by Guest Singer is out now via Heist or Hit.
Live Dates
March 3rd – The Polar Bear, Hull
March 6th – Café Totem, Sheffield (support / Peach Fuzz)
March 26th – Headrow House (co-headline w/Lelo)
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