Australian singer and songwriter El May – AKA Lara Meyerratken – has just put out her second studio album, entitled The Other Person Is You, and to announce the release to the world she’s distributed Thrills as the lead track from the album for online video streaming, which you can listen to below. It’s an infectious synth beats song that goes the extra mile to remind everyone that we need to remember to kick back, relax in the summer sun, let loose and cram in as much fun as we can.
The Other Person Is You, along with Thrills, was released on the 26th August 2014 and to celebrate her return with new material, El May will also be performing live throughout September 2014 with a series of eleven tour dates supporting LA-based sister group, The Pierces. The tour kicks off at the Queens Hall in Edinburgh on the 16th September, taking in the likes of Bristol, Manchester, Birmingham and London before finishing up at Rescue Centre in Nottingham on the 28th September. Full details of all the stop-offs on the UK tour are below.
Thrills begins with a hammer toll synth beat percussion before Lara Meyerratken’s lilting and ringing reverb soaked vocals light the track up, bringing in the pseudo-inspiring lyrics that span the song. The deep tone synthesizer melody and electric organ chord progression that underpins the song is a whole lot of cool, building out a solid track that would put a positive spin on the worst kind of days.
There’s a vague rambling nature to the verse that’s tinged with a sort of wilderness sensation, but it acts as the lost heart to the thrill-filled chorus, which is infectious synth-pop at its finest. One half asks the question and the other provides the answer, “where your thrills at”, and you can’t help but love it a little for the sentiment.
The intelligence and insight of the track is perhaps a derivative of El May’s artistic background as a painter and printmaker and it’s apparent in both the concept, lyrics and complexity of Thrills. The contrasting flow of the different sections challenge the listener as much as they enthrall, but when is gets up to its top speed it’s all that you can do to stop yourself pulling out your favourite head bobbing action. Check out the image above to see some of Lara Meyerratken’s ongoing creative output and you can watch the video for Thrills below.
El May has been living in LA for a little while now and that Californian indie sunshine pop sound is a big part of what makes the track work as well as it does. If you’re looking for comparisons we’d probably have to say Peaking Lights, Simian Ghost, Blood Orange and Trailer Trash Tracys for their own synth pop style and artistic cool, but Lara Meyerratken’s latest material also has a little retro indie pop to give a little hope to any nostalgic hearts out there.
El May, Thrills review: 4.5/5
El May UK tour dates supporting The Pierces:
Tuesday 16th September – Edinburgh Queens Hall
Wednesday 17th September – Gateshead Sage
Friday 19th September – Bristol Trinity Centre
Saturday 20th September – Sheffield Leadmill
Sunday 21st September – Manchester Academy 2
Tuesday 23rd September – London o2 Shepherds Bush Empire
Wednesday 24th September – Birmingham Glee Club
Thursday 25th September – Cambridge Junction
Saturday 27th September – Liverpool Academy 2
Sunday 28th September – Nottingham Rescue Centre
