LIME GARDEN: “IF WE ACHIEVE ALL WE’VE EVER WANTED - WHAT COMES AFTER THAT?”
As Lime Garden celebrate the release of their debut album One More Thing, we check in with the band to chat about self-discovery, vulnerable yet playful expression, and music industry ironies.
“You’re not alone, and you’re not original - your 20s are tough,” laughs Lime Garden’s bassist Tippi Morgan, who is sitting alongside her bandmate and vocalist Chloe Howard in their shared Brighton home. They’re radiating a warmth that can almost be felt through Zoom - a comforting presence that extends throughout their glorious debut album, which across 10 tracks explores self-discovery, ambition, and navigating relationships, all while looking to confirm to the listener that they’re not isolated in their coming of age struggles. On their recently released debut LP One More Thing, the four piece - completed by Leila Deeley (lead guitar) and Annabel Whittle (drums) - candidly explore personal vulnerabilities while maintaining their original tongue-in-cheek attitude, lending a nuanced and satirical approach to their particular brand of off-kilter indie.
photo credit - Jono White
“I’d be nothing without Lime Garden,” Tippi meditates fondly. “I’d be so boring [without the band]!” Although they currently juggle other jobs outside the music industry bubble, this is ultimately where their dreams reside: “It’s not our full time job yet, but it will be”, she smiles. Unsurprisingly, the reality of life as a musician is a topic which gets apt attention throughout the album - on satirical track ‘Pop Star’, cries of “I don’t wanna work my job / life is short and I’m a popstar” ring over rotating drums and glittery tambourines. Though they are clearly grateful to be working in music at all, Tippi and Chloe laugh that “it’s just so ridiculous and funny - the juxtaposition of lifestyles, the ‘highs and lows’”.
Poking fun at themselves is clearly not an issue for Lime Garden, with self-awareness permeating throughout the more critical elements of the album. Inspired by Lily Rose-Depp, ‘Nepotism (baby)’ similarly explores the more nefarious elements of working in music - an industry at the mercy of the financial interests of a select few. “It’s just fun slagging it off sometimes,” says Tippi. “I like bands who can take the piss out of the way the industry is”, Chloe agrees. “We want to keep it light hearted and poke fun at the privilege that people can sometimes be unaware of.”
“Having little girls come up to us at gigs and tell us they’ve taken up the bass - that’s what it’s all about.” ”
In light of these misgivings, our conversation turns to the state of the music industry today, and both members agree that any belittling or patronisation they originally faced as a band of four young women has begun to dissipate. “I think there’s a shift happening at the moment, you can feel it”, Chloe testifies. “There are so many really exciting female and non-binary acts coming up, and the world is opening up to the way people other than straight white men play instruments”. Tippi concurs: “Even to play just a little part in that really ‘rocks’. Having little girls come up to us at gigs and tell us they’ve taken up the bass - that’s what it’s all about.”
Having recently navigated their early twenties, discovering who they are personally, as well as musically, the group is now in a place to look back on their formative years. “We started so young, and we’ve been figuring out how we write and play, what we want to sound like, and what we want to say,” Chloe reflects. “I’m so thankful we’ve had those years of being silly, of just playing for ourselves, or we wouldn’t be making the music we are now.” Tippi actually picked up a bass for the first time to play with Lime Garden, and remembers their early small gigs fondly: “I think we were more scared about the soundtrack than the actual gig! To start with, it’s a case of faking it until you make it!”
Photo credit - Jono White
With a debut album out, and a second to be polished off this year, Lime Garden no longer need to fake anything and are looking forward to the “millions and millions” of gigs they’re set to play in 2024. For the group, touring is “like a constant lads holiday”, and through growing together, the four-piece have curated a “completely open creative space” where they can “express [them]selves and have no judgement.” That, Chloe says, is “the core of creating good music.”
And it shows - walking the tightrope between genres, One More Thing is filled with wonky guitars and driving drums - elements that are signatures for the band - but also explores new frontiers with sirenic synths and expansive soundscapes. The most unexpected of delights comes by way of a pop-tastic autotune soaking on ‘Floor’, which overlays a backdrop of janky guitars; think The Strokes meets Charli-XCX, a combination that the band can’t wait to “rip out at gigs”.
At the heart of Lime Garden is a strong sense of community, bound together by a startlingly truthful and empathetic approach to songwriting, felt most keenly in poignant soundscapes like ‘Mother’ and ‘It’. But they’re also equally adept showcasing the more playful side of their sonic repertoire – matured over years of growth and experimentation. One More Thing is a coming of age companion, and a heartening reminder of the shared peaks and troughs of life, lending itself to moments of both dancing and reflection. We’re not sure what more one could ask from a debut album.
One More Thing is out now via So Young Records.
