A couple of weeks back, we caught awesome new band Lawson at North London's Water Rats and were suitably impressed, but if you didn't manage to see them then or on any of the dates they spent supporting the Wanted on their arena tour, you can now see the lads on their very own UK headline tour. The dates are as follows, and you can expect both a rousing performance of excellent new single When She Was Mine and a top night out in general:
14th May - Glasgow O2 ABC2
15th May - Leeds Cockpit
16th May - Nottingham Stealth
18th May - Sheffield Leadmill
19th May - Manchester Deaf Institute
30th May - London KCLSU
31st May - Birmingham Temple
The video for Lawson's rather excellent debut single When She Was Mine is out and we reckon it does a top-notch job of emphasising the whole 'band' aesthetic we were going on about so much in our review of their live show at Water Rats last week. Our favourite bit of the video has to be one minute in though when the girl of the song's title takes a massive swig of wine straight out of the bottle - nice one!
So, last night we went to see exciting new four-piece Lawson at Water Rats up in King’s Cross and it’s fair to say we came away pretty impressed. You see, more than any of the lads-who-play-guitars style boy groups that have come before (I’m looking at you McFly and Busted), Lawson genuinely feel like a proper band. There’s a remarkable fullness to their sound that seemed only emphasised in the tight confines of the North London venue (basically a rather decadent old pub with a stage strapped on), and across their forty minute set, the band delivered again and again on a collection of songs that not only felt highly consistent, but which reached for new levels of maturity for a band of their type too.
At their heart, Lawson are still fundamentally a pop group, and come with the poster-ready looks to go with it – debut single When She Was Mine shines with a classic, almost timeless chorus melody; the kind of thing equally at home on the radio or shouted along to by the press of frenzied teen girls at the gig. But beyond that, what really makes Lawson special is the proficiency and depth of the music itself. Of course, an element of that comes from the fact they all play their own instruments – but it’s more than that; songs like Waterfall and Stolen resounded with a scale that seemed brimming with the promise of everything the group will surely go on to achieve. More than just the sum of their songs, Lawson sound like a group easily worthy of staking their claim as an accomplished contemporary pop-rock outfit.
The rest of the set was comprised of a rousing cover of Ed Sheeran’s The A Team (more upbeat and arguably better than the original), fan favourite Standing In The Dark and Gone, which sounds a little like The Wanted’s Lose My Mind, replete with arena packing chants. Amongst all this, there was a continued air of respect from the band to their music, an innate understanding that these were their songs, their gift to their fans – and as such, they played them all the better. Supplemented with cheeky Northern banter, chatter with the sound crew, and a sort of subtle, assured confidence, Lawson already very much feel suited to their role. Even the black jackets, leather and New Romantic quiffs they were attired with had the touch of a band content in offering something far more uniquely ‘them’ than chasing trends. Come the end of the gig, we wanted more, to dive into the studio versions of the songs and really appreciate the production and well-roundedness of the tracks, and that – for any up and coming band – must surely be an accomplishment.
So – Andy, Ryan, Joel and Adam – we’re impressed, very impressed.
Lawson’s single When She Was Mine is released on the 27th May.
A lot has been made of how Lawson are the next 'Busted or McFly', but to be honest, one listen of new single When She Was Mine highlights how, at heart, they represent something far more. While the vocals and well-rounded pop hooks might be standard boy-band far, the music itself shows a group of properly accomplished musicians pushing to bring real substance to their sound. Whether it's the Cure-esque guitar, or the dreamy middle-eight, When She Was Mine isn't just great pop, it's mature pop too. There's a depth and weight to the production that really emphasises the 'band' feel of the track, a collective of talent that when combined brings forth prodigious results that feel allied to a wiser, smarter aesthetic than many of their contemporaries. It bodes well for the guys' debut album, that's for sure.
