As I transport into a decade-old memory of blowing bubbles on my childhood patio, the world seems to spin with vibrance and retrospective saturation. Never is it difficult to search for an experience from your past that feels more appealing than your present – The Lemon Twigs successfully capture this phenomenon in their newest studio album, A Dream Is All We Know.
Redolent of youthful nostalgia, the duo continues their discography with a modern take on 70s soft rock. Though so clearly influenced by the giants of the age of glam, it would be erroneous to call them unoriginal.
The first single released this January before the full album, “My Golden Years,” swept listeners including myself into a familiar whirlwind of Beatle-esque harmonies and Pet Sounds’ Beach Boys-like grandeur. The track serves as the group’s poignant reflection on the fear of missing out on one’s (aptly named) “golden years”.
With lyrics that poetically encapsulate the fleeting nature of time, the song tells a restless narrative masked beneath an upbeat tone, accompanied by tangy electric guitar riffs and 70s-style acoustic strumming. A sense of urgency permeates the air with each sudden beat. As the first track, “My Golden Years” serves as a reminder of the unquestionable production quality of each project the brothers release and subsequently keeps listeners in anticipation.
“They Don’t Know How To Fall In Place” is number two on the record, with keyboard callbacks to the Electric Light Orchestra and elements of surf rock. It takes us on a tidal journey to the past.
Track 3, “Church Bells”, includes a conventionally enjoyable lead guitar line that pops in at the end of each stanza. The siblings harmonize about their love for the familiar church bells that belong to their hometown – their “favorite city”. This particular track potentially reaches a younger audience with pleasant and simple tunes, in which their admiration for The Beatles appears more lucid.
“A Dream Is All We Know”, the fourth track and title of the record, is ironically where the overall style of this release begins to feel repetitive. A clear comparison begins to solidify between their current and previous work: This album doesn’t seem to rise to the self-conceived standard they set almost exactly one year prior.
While Everything Harmony, their 2023 release, dazzled with its innovative arrangements and productional intensity, A Dream Is All We Know feels more like a retread of familiar territory and lacks the same spark and freshness. The melodies, though pleasant, don’t venture into new or exciting directions, leaving the listener pining for the bold creativity that made the last album a standout.
Despite my instinct to juxtapose this piece with the artists’ overall musical library, a detached interpretation of this individual album seems more appropriate for critical reliability. The Lemon Twigs successfully capture the heart of juvenescence with their wistful lyrics, demonstrating a prowess for storytelling and justifying their thesis with thorough consistency – a factor many should appreciate. The band’s consanguinity especially emphasizes the emotional depth and personalism of each track, musical influence, and inspirational experience.
While the record has its highs and lows, The Lemon Twigs continue to pique fans’ curiosity and excitement for their future projects. Overall, it would not be inaccurate to mark A Dream Is All We Know in the books as a success for the group.
