“Are you alright?” question commonly asked to people who are usually not alright
Lovejoy is a newly created British indie rock band formed in Brighton, En,gland during the year of mid 2020. The band contains four people — YouTube and Twitch content creator, Wilbur Soot, as the lead vocalist and frontman. Guitarist Joe Goldsmith, bassist Ash Kabosu, and Mark Boardman as the drummer. They released their first debut on May 10th, 2021 sharing their new EP
Are You Alright?
The EP, Are You Alright is just a little over 13 minutes long, this EP fits perfectly in the “Indie Rock” genre. The album reviews the different aspects of toxic relationships in just four songs, it deals with some serious and mature issues in society nowadays. The release wasn’t much of a surprise, since streamer Wilbur Soot has mentioned and broadcasted the release date of the debut. Not only had he joined the band, old fans of Wilbur would know that he’d made a Album — Your City Gave Me Asthma — in the middle of June in 2020. The track explores Wilbur’s hatred for London, and the loneliness feeling when he is living there. Later on, Wilbur continued to release three homemade singles — Internet Ruined Me, I’m In Love with an E-girl, and Your New Boyfriend — with a depressing humour that brought the audience full of joy. It wasn’t a surprise that when the debut EP from Lovejoy was released, the fans were ecstatic about the track.
“We got the name from one of my friends.” Soot says after lovejoy blows up in the fandom, view counts skyrockets on youtube, and getting new followers on spotify. “My friend’s name is Benedict Lovejoy.”
Wilbur’s friend, Benedict Lovejoy is a guitarist and musician. He helped Wilbur with his three humorous singles, being the guitarist in the music. Lovejoy helped the band with the making of their debut EP, and was the first person to approve of the songs when they were done. Afterwards, the band members decided to name the band after him, because he inspired most of their songs. So the name “Lovejoy” came into being.
Tracks
Taunt opens up the EP, immediately followed by a string of hard hitting drums as the intro and the vocals of Wilbur Soot. It had me dancing around my room, acting like a maniac the first time I heard it. The tone of this whole song is sung in a taunting voice, which greatly resembles the title. It sings about the woman wrinkling up her nose bridge, which Wilbur wrongly assumes that it’s a taunting gesture. So then Wilbur starts taunting back the subject throughout the entire song, asking, “Oh ‘cause did anybody ever say no to you?” indicating how everyone always gave her whatever she wanted, arguing how she’s insecure, that she is unstable, and that she craves validation even in the form of catcalls. At the end, the girl finally retaliates by throwing a drink at the singer, a classic “screw you” gesture. This song is rhythmically the fastest in the entire EP, it really shows off the teasing/taunting vibes. It builds up its energy throughout the song, and gives its full at the climax.
In the music video of Taunt, Wilbur and other band members invited the content creator, Georgenotfound, a good friend of Will’s, to be the central character of the music video. One of the many reasons was because George was considered having “pretty privilege” by the internet.
Music Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dtdYVHqK4Q
One day followed by Taunt. This song is a hopeful song that talks about possible improvements made in the future despite a traumatic past, more focused on past lovers and inconsistent relationships. Wanting to take her back even though he knows that she isn’t a good life partner. Wilbur starts the song by saying, “And stop.” That indicates how chaotic his life is and how he wants it to calm down. It really shows how desperate the singer is with the tone of his voice. One day is a relatable song that mentions how life can be so inconsistent that one day you’re fine and the next day you’re not. Wilbur has stated in one of his Twitch streams that this is his least favorite in the EP and himself is starting to dislike it. But personally, I think it has one of the most interesting lyrics and a fun beat.
Music Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXqbR-h5VMY
The third song in the debut EP, Sex Sells is a little different from the other ones. The longest song in the debut — just over four minutes. It’s not the kind of rock music that gets you jumping around, all crazy at a dance party. It is more of a bedroom pop, where you’re chilling in bed and have nothing to do. Sex Sells is much more relaxed than Taunt and One Day. The song is about another man who is in a relationship with the subject who is dating him just for the money while the singer feels rejected and lonely, jealous because the woman he wants is with another man. This tune is more indie than rock, it has that jammy vibe. The song is not for everyone, it could be debatable, but it does have some nice lyrics and gentle beats.
Live Acoustic Version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_9BpvOiR6A
Cause for concern, the last one in the EP, is one of the smaller and less popular songs in Are You Alright? This final song mentions the idea of obsessiveness to the love interest, that the love interest could literally do anything to them and they wouldn’t care. They are too far gone to care about any emotional or physical harm coming from this relationship. The lyrics: “There is no cause for concern.” Shows us that the character the singer is pretending to be is too far in love to care about anything. This song in my opinion is slower than I would like it, it gets boring eventually as you listen to it many times. The lyrics are somewhat exhausting, the tune isn’t that catchy, and there are some unnecessary swearing. I have to say though, it is pretty chill and I get why this could be people’s favourite song.
Ratings & Opinions
Overall, this debut EP is the only one where I constantly listen to all the songs, and for me, it’s pretty rare to find an album where you absolutely love every single one of them. I rate it a solid 8.5/10. Of course, it definitely needs some improvements, but there’s so much potential and this is only their first EP. I’m eager to listen to more of their future works.
The second EP just released on October, 14 2021. The new EP is called “Pebblebrain” which I think is even more brilliant than their debut EP, it’s slightly longer, improvements were made with more energy and it’s less depressing. It’s those kinds of songs that make you jump around restlessly. Especially if you’re having a bad day, it will definitely bring up your mood a lot.
Oh, you’re a chill, jammy person like me? Then Pebblebrain is for you.
Resources
Listen to the EP on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/6rPU1BHqLneslZ1N1EvVdR
Lovejoy Twitter: https://twitter.com/LVJYonline
Lovejoy Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lovejoyonline/?hl=en
Learn more about the lead singer — Wilbur Soot: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilbur_Soot
Lovejoy Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3S-tYM-oNvzuCQHD8cUvqg
Credits