Lush - Shoe(pop)gaze from a dead star

Lush are counted among the big names of the so-called Scene That Celebrates Itself born in the second half of the Eighties, alongside Slowdive, Moose, Ride, Catherine Wheel and many others, who delighted in blending softer melodies with noisier textures, straddling the parallel tracks of dream pop and noise-pop, before ultimately veering, as the shoegaze comet faded, towards a more radio-friendly path in the drift of britpop, the rising star of the early Nineties. The feminist - or rather, as the songwriters themselves like to point out, "feminine" - lyrics, hidden behind a healthy dose of irony and strongly influenced by ABBA, the Shangri-Las and the Smiths, are down to the songwriting of the feisty Miki Berenyi and Emma Anderson, who clearly oppose that model which judges female artists solely on their looks and their ability to sell (and, quite literally, "sell themselves") by playing a part. Reinvention and new beginnings are the key words of their story: just as the shoegaze scene of the time encouraged short-lived collaborative projects between bands, the members of the London group sought out and found a balance, lost it again - and with it, one of their own - changed their lives, found each other once more, only to split up again and set off on new adventures.

The origins: sparks of light born from abrasive punk

The origins of Lush date back to a friendship born on the benches of Queen's College in Westminster between Berenyi and Anderson. The daughter of Japanese actress Yasuko Nagazumi and Hungarian journalist Ivan Berenyi, Miki carries a painful past, while Emma was constantly held back by her staunchly traditionalist family: their shared passion for music led them to collaborate on the fanzine "Alphabet Soup", to write and rebel together, and to start playing in various bands. In 1987, while at university, they decided to form Baby Machines, a name borrowed from Siouxsie And The Banshees' "Arabian Knights", joining forces with drummer Chris Acland and vocalist Meriel Barham, fellow students of Berenyi's at North London Polytechnic, and bassist Steve Rippon.

They play their first ever show at the Camden Falcon in London on 6 March 1988, officially changing their name to Lush, and shortly afterwards Barham leaves the band to join the Pale Saints a couple of years later, handing over the frontwoman role to Berenyi. Meanwhile the band's popularity grows and catches the attention of 4AD, the British label known on the music scene for its predilection for sounds spanning alt-rock, goth, post-punk and dream-pop, with whom they sign a five-year, five-album deal.

The quartet turns out six perfect gems, produced by John Fryer, the label's flagship producer and a member of This Mortal Coil, with Scar (1989), their debut mini-album, so titled to foreground the band's abrasiveness. This is especially evident in the punky, nervy bassline of "Baby Talk", a runaway Sonic Youth-esque train, and the dynamic Smiths-like guitars and wild drumming of "Bitter": the roughness of the band's sound and lyrics stands in open contrast to Berenyi and Anderson's ethereal voices on "Second Sight", marked by a heavy rhythm section, and amid the narcotic reverbs of "Scarlet", which recalls pioneers My Bloody Valentine, before dissolving entirely into the lighter "Thoughtforms" and "Etheriel", where the melodic, melancholy harmonies and atmospheres of Cocteau Twins resurface instead.

Production of the following EP, Mad Love (1990), is taken over by none other than the Scottish group's co-founder, Robin Guthrie, with whom the band continues its evolution, never emulating one specific project but blending different genres and familiar elements, softening its melodies more and more, heading down a more commercial path than the one taken with Fryer. This is clear from the second, more layered and intricate version of "Thoughtforms", as well as from the folk-pop guitars of "De-Luxe" and the Rem-indebted jangle-pop forays "Leaves Me Cold" and "Downer", which nonetheless retain fast, punk-leaning rhythms and noisy, distorted textures.

Amid magazine covers and a success the quartet is totally unprepared for, much like some live performances where they flop and are consequently forced to up their game, the transformation can be said to be complete with Sweetness And Light (1990), which fits squarely into the dream-pop landscape with the indistinguishable, floating, angelic vocals of "Sunbathing" and the elusive textures of "Breeze": an album that reaches its peak by folding in details from the Madchester scene of the Stone Roses on the splendid title track, all polished and arranged together with Tim Friese-Greene, the longtime collaborator of Talk Talk, and percussionist Phil Overhead.

The songs from the three short debut releases converge at the end of 1990 on the excellent compilation Gala, whose title is inspired by the name of Salvador Dalí's wife, and which also includes a cover of ABBA's cynical "Hey Hey Helen" and a second, longer, starker and more effects-laden recording of "Scarlet". Chart-wise the compilation doesn't break through, and the "collage" effect doesn't fully satisfy the label, but it wins over critics almost unanimously, rightfully earning its place among the best shoegaze debuts of all time.

After a long tour across Europe, the United States and Japan, and a string of tabloid rumours about Anderson and Berenyi's private lives, the band returns to the studio to work on new material and record Black Spring (1991), pushing toward greater experimentation, chasing different sounds through the use of sequencers, drum machines, gates and DRC, without straying too far from their core identity. The gamble pays off again, with Anderson as the main songwriter, adding spacey harmonies that pervade the hypnotic sampled drum loops of "Nothing Natural", whose low-budget, haunting video wins the band the admiration of an exceptional fan, Kurt Cobain; the celesta touches on the harmonious cover of Dennis Wilson's "Lady", renamed "Fallin' In Love"; the direct, engaging verses of "God's Gift", co-written with Berenyi; and the measured pace of the luminous (and slightly precious) ballad "Monochrome". Four songs that, behind an apparent veil of simplicity, conceal a wealth of meticulously calibrated details.

During the gestation of Black Spring, Acland and Berenyi take part in a very brief baggy detour with the celebratory single "And David Seaman Will Be Very Disappointed With That", dedicated to Tottenham Hotspur's win over Arsenal FC in the FA Cup semi-final in May 1991, together with Simon Raymonde of Cocteau Twins, and Kevin Mckillop and Russell Yates of Moose, under the name The Lillies.

Deeply introspective and designed to be enjoyed more through headphones than live, not resting on the fierce rhythms of their early work, Spooky (1992) is another unexpected triumph for the band, where alongside the already-mentioned "Nothing Natural" and "Monochrome", King's powerful basslines stand out, as do the sugary jangle-guitars of the sarcastic "For Love" and the spacey, dreamy airs of the fast-paced "Superblast!".

Guthrie's presence as producer becomes even more pervasive and heavy-handed on the space-rock codas of "Ocean" and "Laura", a track with a prominent rhythm section, as well as on the harmonies, reverbs and repetitive sections reminiscent of the Twins on "Stray", "Fantasy", "Covert" and "Take", and the outright shimmering bubblegum-pop drifts of "Tiny Smiles" and "Untogether".

Spooky is the last record made with Rippon on bass, who is replaced by Phil King (ex-Felt, Biff Bang Pow! and The Servants) ahead of the tour that also takes the band onto the (then) travelling stage of the second edition of Lollapalooza, at the express request of founder Perry Farrell, frontman of Jane's Addiction and Porno For Pyros. A festival on which Anderson and Berenyi stand out as the only female headliners.

A rising success and a star slowly fading out

The pressure of relentless touring and non-stop studio work to honour the deal signed with 4AD starts to take its toll, as do certain tensions and resentments simmering among the band members. These turbulences end up seeping into the writing and lyrics of Split (1994); as a result the album divides critics, who don't fully warm to its excessive emotionality – stemming from lyrics centred on abandonment, death and family abuse (of which Miki was a victim as a child) – and also receive it lukewarmly, writing it off from the start given the rise of Britpop.

Sensing tension within the group, Bob Mould turns down the job of handling their new chapter, and production duties go to Mike Hedges, admired by the band for having worked with names of the calibre of Cure, Siouxsie And The Banshees, Associates, Bauhaus and Marc Almond. While production goes smoothly enough, the final mix comes across as flat and lacking in substance: what saves the day at the last minute and turns the album's fortunes around is a second round of remixing entrusted to Alan Moulder (My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Jesus And Mary Chain).

It's impossible to remain indifferent to the dark, deeply personal "Light From A Dead Star", a gem adorned with strings and piano, followed by the equally distinctive "Kiss Chase", centred on Berenyi's childhood; she also pens the standout "Hypocrite", an invective in which the fast rhythms of the Acland-King partnership and razor-sharp guitar riffs return, foreshadowing the more radio-friendly phase that will define Lovelife (1996).

Attention is drawn to the disorienting instrumental interlude of the slow "Desire Lines", whose theme is depression, a subject that reaches its climax in the closing "When I Die", seasoned with a touch of melancholy folk. "Blackout" and "The Invisible Man" are dominated by echoing, noisy pop, while "Lovelife" settles into indie-pop/rock territory tinged with psychedelia. The triptych "Undertow", "Never-Never" and "Lit Up" once again embraces dream-pop sounds, while "Starlust" leans heavily on guitar reverb, returning to shoegaze territory. A thoroughly respectable album, among the band's best for the quality of the themes tackled, but that isn't enough to win over the public either, leading to problems and the cancellation of some dates on the subsequent tours.

Although it's not the band's creative peak, but certainly their highest point in terms of success and sales, Lovelife is counted among the most representative albums of the britpop scene. A shift that was entirely accidental and unintended, according to Anderson, who at the time was listening to Supergrass and Elastica and simply drew inspiration from them to craft catchy melodies to blend with that innate sense of melancholy that is by now the quartet's trademark. The backdrop to the record is pubs and small indie venues, with stories of misguided friendships and love affairs ("I've Been Here Before", "Papasan"), around which Berenyi and co. unleash all their love for sixties bands like The Monkees, Kinks, Beach Boys and Shangri-Las, amid choruses and pop and rock'n'roll guitar riffs ("Heavenly Nobodies", "Runaway").

The manifesto of the record is the night depicted in the video for the cocky "Ladykillers", one of the London band's most famous hits ever, in which Berenyi hides references to the sexism present in the music industry, and to the humiliating photo shoots imposed on women, where the female figure is portrayed as a mere sexual object.

Also standing out are the playful "Single Girl", "500 (Shake Baby Shake)", written by Emma who had just gotten her driving license at the time, and the ironic breakup song "Ciao!", a duet between Miki and Jarvis Cocker, not released as a single so as to avoid giving the impression of wanting to exploit the image of the frontman of Pulp. The mood turns more serious with the introspective, semi-acoustic ballad "Tralala", with the synthetic strings and harmonic guitars of the disorienting and vaguely spectral "Last Night", and with the harsh "The Childcatcher".

The mournful closer "Olympia", accompanied by a small horn section, sounds almost like an eerie omen of what was about to happen.

In the chaos of our lives

Can we ever find the time

To cherish feeling fine

And in the aftermath of pain

Can the balance be regained?

Can we ever be the same?

That year, in fact, also marks the end of the band, due to the suicide of Acland, found hanged from a tree in the garden of his home, just a few months after the album's release. No note, no explanation. The event devastated Berenyi above all, to the point of driving her away from the music world, and the official announcement of the split only came in February 1998, after two years of silence.

The Sing-Sing interlude, the reunion and the new Piroshka project

In the following years Miki moved into publishing, King took office jobs at outlets like Vox, Uncut, Q and NME, while also playing in various projects, including a stint as a touring member of Jesus And Mary Chain, while Anderson stayed in the music biz as a manager and PR, and in 1997 founded Sing-Sing together with Lisa O'Neill (Locust, Mad Professor, Kid Loco).

In 2001 the compilation Ciao! Best Of Lush was released in memory of Acland, and the Anderson-O'Neill duo also delivered their debut, The Joy Of Sing-Sing.

The style the two pursued is very straightforward: labelled as indie-pop with dream-pop echoes, it draws on Sixties girl groups and pushes toward synth territory, blending in folk and indietronica. A sunny, carefree brand of pop (it's no coincidence their most famous single remains the debut "Feels Like Summer") with some interesting twists, occasionally venturing into rare, melancholic moments reminiscent of Lush, but it was destined to remain a niche concern, despite fairly favourable reviews for the following releases too, the short Madame Sing-Sing (2004) and the sophomore effort Sing-Sing And I (2005).

The duo's journey came to an end at the close of 2007, with an announcement to fans via the official website's mailing list.

After a series of rapprochements, on 28 September 2015 came the official news of Lush's reunion, featuring Justin Welch of Elastica on drums alongside Berenyi, King and Anderson, along with the announcement of a long tour and the release of new material, included on the short EP produced by Jim Abbiss and Daniel Hunt, Blind Spot (2016).

The band gave fans a dream come true, releasing a four-track EP that clearly reaffirmed its dreamy roots, starting with the pleasant déjà-vu of "Out Of Control", ready to send us straight back to 1991, with that dreamlike melancholy made even more pronounced by the almost sadcore textures of the following "Lost Boy".

"Burnham Beeches", on the other hand, is a joyful pop explosion, while "Rosebud" provides the sweetness that closes out fifteen perfect minutes, underlining once again just how much of today's indie scene draws on sounds directly descended from the nineties. But for anyone hoping for a definitive comeback from the band, a cold shower was in store: the group's second farewell came with King's departure in October 2016, replaced for the tour's final date at Manchester Academy by Michael Conroy of Modern English.

Having set aside the Lush experience, in 2018 Berenyi embarked on the Piroshka adventure, a side project born by chance, precisely thanks to the reunion, once again featuring Kevin McKillop on keyboards, who in the meantime had become the singer's life partner, Conroy on bass and Welch on percussion.

Given these ingredients, it's fairly easy to picture from afar what Brickbat (2019) sounds like: melancholy pop songs propped up by sturdy basslines of new wave extraction, with a thick blanket of shoegaze fog scattered pretty much everywhere.

What's surprising about the album, in fact, isn't the end result so much as the choice of certain details that make the songs distinctive and sometimes unpredictable. Like when the ending of "Village Of The Damned" is first swept up by festive trumpets and then brought back down to earth by a brief saxophone lament, or when scratchy violins unsettle the dreamy atmosphere of "Heartbeat".

Nothing to lose your mind over, but the songs more or less all work, especially in the first half. Whether it's misty-eyed ballads like "Blameless", which somehow recalls the pop romanticism of the Cranberries, or uptempo indie-pop romps like the jangle of "What's Next?" or the sprightly "Never Enough". Also very successful is the stab at an anthem taken with "Hated By The Powers That Be", whose melody and guitar solo wouldn't have been out of place on Lush's "Lovelife".

With the sophomore effort Love Drips And Gathers (2021), the band instead chooses to focus more on their lighter, dream-pop side, at times weaving genuinely orchestral synthetic textures ("Hastings 1973", "The Knife Thrower's Daughter") and at others leaning into experimental pop-driven journeys ("Familiar", "We Told You"), cleverly placing at the heart of the album the classic shoegazing cloud of reverb formed by "V.O." and "Wanderlust", along with the sharp, shining highlight "Scratching At The Lid".

Nothing too forward-looking, but overall the record offers solid confirmation of the quartet's abilities: without taking too many risks, they continue steadily on their path, avoiding any disastrous slide into nostalgia and making decent use of the legacy left by their original project.

Contributions by Claudio Lancia ("Blindspot") and Michele Corrado ("Brickbat")

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