Whether you love or loathe migration, we can all agree on one thing: everyone enjoys a love migration. I’m not so sure what that means, but stick with me, it’s the best segue I could come up with. Enter Love Migrate, an indie-pop five piece from Melbourne whose melancholy tunes proffer a grey shade of love.
An amazing ode to heartbreak, Pippa’s in the Highlands from Love Migrate reigns in melancholy. The Shimmer Through the Night EP can’t come soon enough.
Formed in 2011, the group has seen a few lineup changes, save three core members. “I think we’ve settled on a good group of friends that we want to stick with until the end of this band, whenever that may be,” says Eddie Alexander, singer and lead songwriter, “The band came together quite naturally through various friendships, as well as a sibling connection with two brothers being involved“.
The band have drip-fed the public a strong catalogue of songs since their formation, and the latest tune Pippa’s in the Highlands, off their soon to be released EP Shimmer Through the Night, is one of their strongest yet. With an ambience reminiscent of The War on Drugs‘ Red Eyes, this track is a beautifully emotive and evocative paean to lost love. It’s a natural follow up to their 2013 EP Dissolved, which is equally haunting and incredibly well composed.
While immediately compelling, Pippa’s… is more of a grower than anything; after you’ve had a couple of listens you’ll never want to stop. At almost six minutes, it could easily be too long, but in this band’s capable hands, the song’s forlorn subject matter and powerful yet very subtle energy turns the track into a shining example of just how to write an amazing ode to heartbreak without resorting to cliche.
“I think each member in Love Migrate has slightly different tastes, and that has helped us create diversity in our song arrangements and moods” says Alexander. And there is definitely diversity. While a vocal, drum and guitar arrangement features heavily, the truly moving moments on this track are when it’s just Alexander’s voice and a single drum playing off one another. Alexander names influences as varied as Bruce Springsteen, Paul Kelly, The Triffids’ David McComb and The Go-Betweens’ Robert Forster. Although these aren’t immediately obvious in their tunes, shades of Springsteen can be felt in the tension bubbling underneath the band’s tracks and there’s a frank and realistic approach to lyrics that could be attributed to Kelly.
Although the band’s earliest tracks, such as Plagued Are All My Thoughts and What Kind of Man Am I? were quite accomplished for first releases, the past year and a half has really seen Love Migrate step up to the plate. They’re off to Aireys Inlet on the Great Ocean Road to record their next set of tunes in the coming weeks which is good news, it’s been far too long between their sweetly melancholy tunes.
If Love Migrate sound like your thing, they’re going to be launching Shimmer Through the Night at the Gasometer Hotel in Collingwood, on Thursday 28 May.
