EP REVIEW: Stop At Nothing – Sea Lemon
Taking her second step into her recording career, Natalie Lew has made waves again with her latest EP under her nautical pseudonym SEA LEMON. Titled Stop At Nothing, this EP shows a more confident and emotionally available Lew braving her truth and her fears to come to terms with the natural process of death. How she shouldn’t be afraid of that what entertains her such in movies and television shows, or even what she’s used to viewing on news channels. Take a dive into her innermost thoughts within this five-song-deep ocean.
The first single released from the EP is the subtly upbeat Vaporized, a track that closes the EP but opened this era for SEA LEMON. Being that cross between the soft-rock of the 80s and the contemporary folk-pop sound that graces the indie scene, it takes the theme of drowning to an unexpected place. The melody makes it sound idyllic in a way, while the lyrics tell the truth of death, as Lew sings about being “out of my mind“. As an introduction to a new era for the Seattle vocalist, it captures bittersweetly just what was to come. Easily digestible tracks about death and the anxiety that surrounds the topic; the kind that will get stuck in a loop around the brain for days upon days. This may not have been her intention when writing the song, but it’s working like magic.
Following on with the same theme is Cellar, however with a different take. Another soft and sweet sounding track, it looks at the idea of being bound to misfortune and being confronted with panic and anxiety. With these feelings come a yearning of sorts. Lew sings about how this metaphorical cellar is “where I belong“. No matter how scary the darkness feels, no matter how great the urge to run away is, there is a voice that’s whispering to go ahead. Perhaps it’s a false sense of security, maybe out of a disbelief of the seriousness that lies ahead. This is comparable to viewing death as an outsider in media such as horror movies. Cinema that is created to enforce this anxiety as an aspect of entertainment, and has been believed to weaken the perspective of real-life horror events such as murders and assaults.
Lew may be dealing with her fear of dying through music, but she has made it a subject multiple layers deep. Using songwriting as a newfangled form of therapy, she has delved deeper than she possibly ever could with just plain talking in a white room on her own. This has even branched off to touch upon other topics in mind, such as the view of parasocial bonds in Dramatic.
The lyrics come from the point of view of a showbusiness fan; whether this is someone fascinated with music, movies or television, this is someone who has taken the fascination to new depths and lower lows. Keeping with the soft-rock and indie sounds, it sets a scene of unadulterated joy and uncensored hope. A voice in the head that will never give up on the least likely of paths in the future. The irrational encouragement that fights the conscience and takes things into its own hands. Being a freakishly relevant story to tell in recent times, where fans and celebrities are closer than ever due to social media, this is a relatable song in two ways. Relatable to a time where celebrities and notable figures were someone’s whole world and reason for living and being; or a reminder that such events happen and it’s a common but unhealthy occurrence within the psyche.
SEA LEMON has captured a month’s worth of counselling notes in a short EP release and as freeing and flowing as listening to it can be, writing and recording it must have taken an emotion toll on Lew. As someone who has struggled with getting the words out and trying to describe the abstract ideas bouncing around from brain cell to brain cell, Stop At Nothing was a more than necessary record to bring to the world. Not simply for Lew, but for everyone who has ever taken even one step in her shoes. Death is coming. Death is real. But until that time comes, life is for the living and entertainment is for entertaining purposes only.
Rating: 7/10
Stop At Nothing is out now via Luminelle Recordings.
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