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If you were lucky enough to enjoy a blessed infancy, you might remember your loving mother or father tucking you into bed at night, as your head rested gently on a pillow you imagined was a cloud and your toes settled against sheets that were softer than your own baby skin. If you’re having trouble recalling that experience, take a listen to Gold Coast siblings Lastlings and it will come soaring back.
Combining rich production with touching layers of sound and soothing vocals, Lastlings demonstrate that blissful second between consciousness and sleep.
Josh and Amy, who still attends high school, form the indie-pop duo, who create simply breathtaking tunes. Teaming up with fellow unearthed artist and producer GOVS, Lastlings have shown an incredible amount of talent, releasing three songs since July this year that are characterised by a beautifully lush vibe and outstanding production levels. Even better, the music is all for us, says the band; “We love making music that transports our listeners to a better place. I think sometimes our lyrics are fairly ambiguous and it leaves them open to our audience’s interpretation.”
Now Lastlings aren’t the only artist around trying and succeeding at this but they’re doing it from such a place of cosmic serenity and innocence that they can’t help but stand out. The opening minute of Verona, their first release, sounds exactly like you would expect a journey home to sound like, and when Amy calls out with her disarmingly sweet vocals, you dive into welcoming arms.
The seemingly seamless creation of these tracks must be aided by the bond the siblings share. “We’ve definitely always been close, I think as we get older though we’re always out doing separate things like work, school etc., so it’s cool that something like this gives us an excuse to hang out.” Though Josh admits, “I am very stubborn and so is Amy so it gets a little difficult at times,” he says the process never strikes too many obstacles; “We are drawn to similar stuff creatively so that aspect hasn’t been too painful.”
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The band say their dream pop leanings have always come naturally and it’s easy to tell that’s the case. Wavelength threads its way intricately but easily through a topic that is catching many people’s attention these days. “Wavelength is about the whole internet/social media craze and the constant need of wanting more,” says Josh. “Sometimes we’re too focused on what someone else has we forget what we already have.”
The fact you can listen to a song about such a busy environment and still be awed by the languid watery tones says a lot about the skill of song writing taking place here. Lastlings use echoes, overlapping and multi-dimensional sounds to make the experience of listening to them truly immersive. When talking about music, it’s clear they’ve got their head in the right place, naming Alt-J and Beach House as two of their favourite artists. “We are into a lot of different stuff, but our main influence is probably Alt-J, their sound is always so interesting,” says Josh.
If there were two bands you would mention in regards to depth, Alt-J and Beach House are two who would come to mind, and Lastlings are certainly on the right track to emulating the rich texture those artists never fail to display. That feeling of home is never far away though, even in the recording stage, as Josh says; “I also like using sounds from around the house and where we live as well though, it gives it a pretty organic feel. One of our newer demos has a thunderstorm quietly in the background that I recorded here one night.”
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Their newest track Chills takes a pacier, poppier step forward for the band, evoking thoughts of Polarheart, Lilt and JOY, three other emerging artists making waves this year. Despite the somewhat breezier, lighter production Chills maintains that friendly embrace which encompasses all of Lastlings’ work.
“It’s great to try and give our audience something fresh and new to listen to every time,” they say, “but as we play more and record more there’s definitely an evolution of our sound. We’ve only done this for a few months though so it’s really only the beginning.”
Just the beginning indeed, the beginning of a bright future if what they’ve offered so far is any indication. 2016 will see the siblings release their debut EP as well as make their festival debut. In the meantime, you might find Josh surfing and Amy drawing, or, you know “just chilling”.
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