Live Review: Lanks ‘Beach Houses’

Its been one hell of year for LANKS - the solo project of Melbourne musician Will Cumings. In 2014 alone, he’s drop the stellar EP Thousand Piece Puzzle, toured alongside Broods and Bondax, and been made a critical darling thanks to praise from Triple J, NME and FBI Radio. 

He’s topping off a productive year with the release of new track 'Beach Houses’ which finds the enigmatic talent expanding on his electronic folk sound, exploring new aural territory through dreamy synths and mediative song structure.

On Thousand Piece Puzzle, Lanks wore his influences on his sleeve - the music conjuring up comparisons to the likes of Jamie XX, James Blake and Radiohead. On ‘Beach Houses’ we see Lanks moving away from his contemporaries and creating something uniquely his own. Lanks adds a layer of lush synths to his electro pop soundscape,  engulfing the song in a hazy, brooding atmosphere. 

There is a lot of promising experimentation to be found too, with Lanks weaving whimsical flute instrumentation next to hip hop beats. A strange juxtaposition that surprising works to create a strange, yet smoothing, slow-burn track.  

‘Beach Houses’ is a ethereal summer jam made for lazying and hanging about. It shows the artist playing around with new sounds and rhythms, indicating we can expect some exciting and experimental output from one of Australia’s best newcomers. 

Here's what Will himself had to say about the track:

"I wrote Beach Houses at the end of last summer a week after I posted the first LANKS single, Rises and Falls. Beach Houses is all about the smooth cruisiness and vibes that go along with Summer and being at your beach house. It's also about how I can't afford a Beach House and maybe if I chose a more lucrative career than music I might have one.”

Nah Lanks, we say stick to the music! 

Lanks is expected to drop a new EP at the beginning of next year. You can catch the artist playing Paradise Music Festival in Victoria from the 28th to the 30th of November. 

Words by Isabella Trimboli

LISTEN TO MORE MUSIC HERE.

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LANKS 'BRAVE MAN'

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