Lucy Kruger & The Lost Boys launched their sixth album, Heaving, in April, 2023. Born in South Africa and now based in Berlin, the band is known for their use of an atmospheric mix of folk and ambient tones to create an alluring, comforting environment that draws the listener in only to contrast this lulling vibe with an intense and emotional vocal delivery. 

“Howl,” my personal favorite off the new album, best utilizes these talents to condemn the archaic idea of “keeping up with the Jones’” and its recent rebrand, “hustle culture.” The combination of the opening drumline, a steady marching beat, with the repeating feedback, like an incessant alarm, convey the sounds of daily banality, an endlessly drudging repetition of noise that forces us onward without question or thought. This sense of endlessness carries the listener into Kruger’s nearly animalistic delivery of the single word “scream,” expressing her rejection of the continual movement of life and progress without consciousness. The chorus erupts into a denouncement of perfectionism and the treatment of self-improvement as a competitive sport, stating that prospect and potentiality are torture. 

All of these themes heavily reminded me of the recent Oscar-sweeping film, Everything Everywhere All at Once. There are even direct ties within the lyrics that lead me to believe that the song was either inspired by the film or that these ideas are so deeply embedded into the current human experience that they are destined to manifest themselves in every form of art. As a visual example, Kruger paints a brief scene of domesticity in a laundromat, (one of the main settings in the film). But on an even deeper level than this, the themes in the film and the song are identical. Both question and eventually disregard the idea that there is a better, more perfect version of ourselves out there that we are socially obligated to pursue. They both reach the final moral that any singular person is not and cannot possibly be the “best version” of themselves, highlighting the futility of this goal. If this song is not directly inspired by the film, then the universal rejection of the chase for a perfect self is so necessary in the current climate that it has found multiple outlets through which to be delivered. In either case, this song struck a chord with me and given the universality and necessity of its theme, I have a prediction that it will reverberate with many. 

It’s easy to see why “Howl” in particular stood out to me, but it’s worth noting that the entire album, including its second single, “Feedback Hounds,” is masterfully arranged. I am disappointed to say Lucy Kruger & The Lost Boys are not currently slated to tour anywhere close, but you can stream and download all six albums, including the incredible singles “Howl” and “Feedback Hounds” while waiting for a hopeful North American tour.

I’m Music Magazine Writer Kayleigh Rongey

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