by Phil Scarisbrick

Earlier in the year, Bleach Lab’s A Calm Sense of Surrounding EP explored the all-encompassing shroud that grief can impart on a person. Drawn from personal experiences, the exploration of loss showed incredible depth, not only lyrically, but in the musical palettes over which they’re delivered. Now returning with new single – Real Thing – the group once again use their music to process the complex emotions that our connections with others instil in us.

Though not strictly about the anguish of loss that directed their previous release, the impact of such events is imbued in this new track. Rather than focussing on the past though, Jenna Kyle’s intentions are forward-facing. Using everything that has gone before to consciously do better for herself, and build positive relationships, rather than meandering into the new still scarred and unable to trust.

The soundtrack mixes electronic beats with a bright, infectious guitar riff. Kyle’s vocals sit somewhere between Elizabeth Taylor’s on Massive Attack’s Teardrop, and Roxette’s equally anthemic – though wholly different – It Must Have Been Love. In fact, there is a real nostalgia to the whole feel of the track, which juxtaposes with future-orientated theme of the lyrics. The knack for combining these familiar, though not derivative melodies with deeply affecting words is clearly not an accident, and with legendary producer, Stephen Street (The Smiths, Blur), now on board, Real Thing being their most accomplished track to date.

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