Upon hearing Elder Island’s highly danceable new song “Pink Lemon,” all of us at Studio One had the same thought: it’s a perfect summertime “driving with the windows down” kind of jam. I went looking through the lyrics to find some clues to support that hypothesis, but other than the line “My keys, jingling in your hand / And we’ll be figuring it all out,” there’s not much to go on.
Elder Island is a trio led by singer and cellist Katy Sargent. They were new to all of us on the team, but upon learning they’re from Bristol, England, everything about them clicked.
Bristol has a rich musical history that goes back decades, and it’s acknowledged as the birthplace of the “trip-hop” genre, made famous by Massive Attack, Portishead and others. There’s plenty more great music from Bristol: IDLES, The Sundays and George Ezra, to name a few. But Elder Island clearly got their inspiration from the masters of trip-hop.
As I already noted, “Pink Lemon” is a bit of an obtuse song. The closest we get to a chorus is only repeated twice: “Every day, feels the same / Letting things pass me by lately, lost my way / Every day, seems the same / Together we can turn it round baby, break away.” I mean, yeah, but what does that have to do with a pink lemon? The answer may lie in the ‘70s-inspired music video, where Pink Lemon is used as a cleaning brand of some sort. I’m going to assume it’s carpet cleaner, because otherwise there’d be no reason to have it in the living room while people are vacuuming.
Of course, I’m overthinking this, which is literally my job, but it doesn’t mean you have to. Just fire up “Pink Lemon” the next time you’re driving, or vacuuming, or whatever, and just try not to dance. I bet you’ll at least end up bobbing your head!
“Pink Lemon” is on Elder Island’s terrific new album Hello Baby Okay, released earlier in May. It’s available on Bandcamp and streaming services, along with the rest of their music. If you don’t mind driving, they’ll be at Lincoln Hall in Chicago on October 1, but that’s the closest they'll be getting to Iowa anytime soon.
