Orchards - Lovecore - CD DIGISLEEVE

the cities brightest rising stars. Comprised of lifelong friends Sam Rushton (guitar) and Dan Fane (bass/vocals), who met drummer Will Lee-Lewis and vocalist Lucy Evers within their first week at university, the band are a resplendent mix of summer melodies and stellar hooks that threaten to be stuck in your head for days. Married with an unbreakable bond that makes the four-piece inseparable, they form a sound that is inherently positive, charming, shimmering and above all: fun. Armed with a luscious catalogue that has seen praise from BBC 6Music, Radio1 and NME — with Huw Stephens championing the band as “'Ones To Watch” — their 2018 EP ‘Losers/Lovers’ is perhaps a collection of their rawest material studded with fan favourites, from the electrifying ‘Peggy’, ‘Honey’’s ode to the collapse of the world’s bee colonies, to
summer anthem ‘Luv You 2’ and the sultry ‘Drama King’. In March 2019, the band released a 7” featuring two new songs ‘Young’ and ‘Mature Me’, knocking the bands songwriting and musicianship up a gear giving them the chance to explore their fusion of math pop time signatures and pop inspired vocals to produce a sound bigger, brighter and more ambitious than ever before. Described as “A welcome addition to any alt-pop lovers ears..”, Orchards retired to the studio to record their debut album Lovecore, which once again sees them approach their new
material with a heavy focus on killer melodies and Evers’ heartfelt poetic lyrical outpourings centred around her experience with loss, mental health struggles, the environment and relationships. “For this record we really wanted to keep in mind our past releases. Give a 1.5 rather than a 2.0. Stay true to who we are as a band but go on a path of improvement. However saying that, we're always going to be influenced by Everything Everything and FOALS!” explains Evers. "We nearly always write as 4 people in a room but with this being our debut record we wanted to push ourselves. We would all write separately and then we'd get together in Will's bedroom and smash all our ideas together to form some semblance of a song. Once we'd done that we took it into the rehearsal space and that’s where all the bells and whistles were added.”
Where ‘Magical Thinking’ and ‘Sincerely Overwhelmed’ has Orchards marked at their most vulnerable, detailing Lucy’s struggle with her own OCD/depression diagnosis and how she realised asking for help was the best decision she ever made, ‘Stealing Your Sleep’ looks at how a diagnosis affects those who surround you. Of course, no Orchards record would be complete without gorgeous cascades of joy and positivity, as found on the record’s straight up love song ‘Vacancy’. “This album mostly tackles the stigmas surrounding mental health. I think our generation have come on leaps and bounds in the past years, but there is still a world of difference to make. This album lyrically was cathartic to write and I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat. It is therapy and it is a way of reaching out and giving people something to relate to and
knowing that their feelings are validated.” Says Evers. Their energetic live show — which often sees Evers treat the venue as her personal
playground — has taken them across the globe, playing shows in the UK and Europe, selling out their debut London headline show, support slots with Hippo Campus, Fatherson and Pom Poko as well as packed out slots at The Great Escape, Y Not Festival, Truck, and 2000 Trees Festival among many others. In the spring of 2019, Orchards set their sights on conquering SXSW and The New Colossus Festival in New York, gaining media attention from the likes of Alternative Press, DIY and Noisey and propelling them with a drive and momentum to return in 2020.
Orchards are bashing down the doors of the indie world with no intention of slowing down. Armed with a slew of bangers and ballads alike, they’re a band whose work ethic and creative outgoings make them one of the most exciting bands around, but more importantly a shining beacon of catharsis, anthems and hope.