Lush

(Translated from my original Italian text by ChatGPT and Piero Scaruffi)

Lush acted as a bridge between the dream-pop of the Cocteau Twins and the shoegazing of My Bloody Valentine. Their sound was as baroque and romantic as the former, and as psychedelic and distorted as the latter. At the center of their songs were not the melodies (which were quite catchy) but the abrasive guitars of Emma Anderson and Miki Berenyi. The melancholic soprano of the lead singer cut through the spiny layers of that dreamlike noise.
The songs on the EP Scar (4AD, 1989) mostly laid ecstatic melodies over sheets of distortion and percussion. The emotional range, however, was wide. While Baby Talk pushed tribal and distorted sounds to the maximum, Thoughtforms was essentially just a chorus of angelic pop, Bitter mimicked the sparkling garage-pop of the Primitives, and Second Sight oscillated between cowpunk and flamenco with the aggressiveness of Loop. The band recycled basic ideas, refining them in Scarlet into a dreamy psalm in the purest Liz Fraser (Cocteau Twins) register.

Marked by a louder production, with drums up front and resounding distortion, the second EP, Mad Love (4AD, 1990), energized tracks that risked becoming mere sonic tapestries (for example, with the waltz of De-Luxe). On the third EP, Sweetness And Light (4AD, 1990), emotions took precedence (Breeze and the title track, soft and hazy). The three EPs were later compiled on the album Gala (4AD, 1990).

The formative phase was completed by the single Black Spring (4AD, 1991) and the EP Nothing Natural (4AD, 1991), whose title track is one of their most delicate and baroque melodies, and whose Monochrome is an impassive lullaby for angels.

Spooky (4AD, 1992) thus became the first true album of the band, with an even denser harmony of nebulous vocalizations, chiming guitars, soothing keyboards, and gentle rhythms. The elements of their sound were softened and beautified through a maturation process that distanced them from the lingering charms of garage rock. Sugary to the point of nausea, barely pulsating, almost catatonic, this style lacks the stamina to sustain more than one song and therefore becomes monotonous. In the end, the best moments are also the ones with more grit: Stray, soaring into a gothic dance ā la Siouxsie Sioux, the driving Laura, the crackling Superblast, and especially the warm ballad For Love. The jazzy harmony of Tiny Smiles and the dreamy melody of Ocean are more typical of the rest. No song is truly memorable, but, as often happens with commercial gimmicks, Lush's output is not a sound—it is just the idea of a sound.

Building on the mistakes and excesses of Gala, the production of the second album, Split (4AD, 1994), focused on the dreamlike and surreal aspects of their compositions, reviving the fairy-tale atmospheres of the early singles. The innocent Lush of Kiss Chase, riding a lively beat and a gentle chorus, and Hypocrite, retreating to the Sixties revival of the Primitives, are not very original but more credible.
The duo still managed to deliver some complex harmonies. When the sound expands, Berenyi’s vocalizations begin to fragment, and the arrangements gain an almost symphonic depth, as in Light From A Dead Star, evoking the new age music of Enya. The long chant of Desire Lines even adds a "Pink Floydian" tail in slow crescendo. Undertow manages to merge a Renaissance psalm, raga-like instrumental bridge, hard rock bursts, and techno rhythm. Vocal new-age touches are scattered throughout, such as the looping whisper in The Invisible Man. Lovelife, with its velvety vocal harmonies and spatial guitar chimes, simply brings that style to the dancefloor.

However, the trajectory that began with the catchiest songs of that album ended up placing Lush within the ranks of the vast Brit-pop army. Lovelife (4AD, 1996) reveals itself only as a somewhat ridiculous attempt to imitate Elastica (Single Girl, Ladykiller). In October 1996, drummer Chris Acland committed suicide.

Ciao (4AD, 2000) is an excellent career anthology.

In the end, very little of Lush survives. Their early EPs did nothing more than "sell" a trendy sound, without injecting much personality. None of the members were particularly brilliant on their instruments or vocals. None of their songs were especially innovative or catchy. From any perspective, what remains is only the idea of how to make brilliant songs, but little of substance.

Emma Anderson formed Sing Sing, whose The Joy Of (Manifesto, 2002) includes the singles Feels Like Summer (1998), I Can See You (1999), Tegan.

Topolino (1996) compiles rarities and leftovers.

Origami (2016) is a five-LP box-set collecting Gala, Spooky, Split, Lovelife and Topolino.