More about: Bleach Lab

It’s an incredibly rare thing to put yourself on display for the world to see; rarer still, to put your vulnerability in all its raw, undue glory on show, in the hope that somewhere out there in the ether it lands. And yet ten days ahead of the release of their debut EP, it is this situation exactly in which indie four-piece Bleach Lab find themselves.

From Buckinghamshire by way of South London, the band’s upcoming release contains two blinding experiences of grief – for bassist Josh Longman, the loss of his father; for vocalist Jenna Kyle, the ending of a long-term relationship. The collaborative ethos of the group saw the two comparing and contrasting the motions they respectively went through, and from that comes A Calm Sense Of Surrounding, five songs that traverse those unimaginable moments of sorrow through the five stages of grief – anger, denial, bargaining, depression, acceptance – using metaphors of the sea alongside soundscapes (created primarily by guitarist Frank Wates) that crash, wane and endure to convey the depth and fluidity that lie beneath its oft-formulaic façade.

Lead single ‘Old Ways’ is retrospective, exploring “the angry side of the grieving process at the end of a relationship,” Kyle says. “Anger towards the way in which they treated you but also towards oneself for still missing them regardless.” ‘Never Be’, by contrast, an introspective daydream that yearns for the way things were through rose-tinted glasses; ‘Lighthouse’, a beacon of hope, guiding you through the unknown, encouraging you out of the reassuring familiarity of the shadows.

Releasing a collection of songs for the first time since their late-2018 formation, the consensus on EP closer ‘Scars’ is that it's the track the band are most anxious for people to hear. “It was the hardest for me to write lyrically,” Longman says, “because I tied in a lot of the themes from the feelings I had when my dad passed away. And, for that reason, it has a special place in my heart.” The sentiment rings true for both Kyle, for whom it is currently a favourite, and for drummer Kieran Weston – a recent addition to the group – who says the first listen “really blew [him] away a little bit.”

For Wates however, it’s penultimate track ‘Flood.’ “It’s funny because I think it was the first song we wrote as a band and when we were recording it, I absolutely hated it. I was just so annoyed with how it was coming out, but I’ve done a complete 180° on it now. I’m excited for when it comes out, because I think it’s going to surprise people quite a lot. It’s quite different from what we’ve released so far.”

The artwork of the release and its singles continue the narrative. “It’s almost a bit of a spread-out stop motion,” Kyle says. “I think from the start, we said that we want to include an element of water in the artwork. The themes that surround that are being overwhelmed and completely absorbed, and she [the figure featured in the artwork] is standing in water, taking the water and putting it on essentially. So it’s about being submerged and immersed in everything.”

An EP built on the synergy of shared emotion rather than mutual experience, A Calm Sense Of Surrounding is there for the taking of whoever may need it. Asked if they realised at the time of recording just how much the release might resonate, Longman says: “If I’m honest, with people losing their loved ones whether it’s due to COVID or whatever it may be, I just thought – if it helps one person, I’m happy…I think we got a lot out of writing these songs, just personally getting things out there.”

You’d be forgiven for thinking Bleach Lab are a long ways into their tenure. From their first single, 2019’s ‘Heartache of the Season,’ their music has been highly polished; lyrics that move poised against the finetuned craft of their music. Their iridescent, far-off sound is a kaleidoscope of jangly guitars and pensive vocals, tinged with hues of Mazzy Star, The Cure and Beach House, through to the heart-on-sleeve nature of Julia Jacklin; consciously sub-conscious influences that seep into their intricate tapestry. So much of each member exists within each and every note and it is this, alongside their nuances – the fact they’re all currently scattered around different locations across the south of the country, the range of Longman’s music taste (“Post Malone, My Chemical Romance, Grimes. You name it, it’s in there”), Wates’ bucket-list album goals - that distinguish the band as a force to be reckoned with. 

The door to their sound has been opened further still by their new drummer, and also oddly enough, by the pandemic. “It was a way to reset and rethink how we wanted to do things,” says Wates. “I think there’s been a trade-off of momentum loss from not playing shows but also generally improving the direction of the band and how we feel things are sounding. I feel so much more positive about the output and the music we’re making now, and it’s weirdly because of the pandemic. We owe quite a lot to it, bizarrely.”

Weston’s introduction, on the other hand, had a huge impact production-wise. “There were areas that we couldn’t necessarily get to that we wanted to do within music,” says Longman, “and I think having Kieran on board now has allowed us to explore some more.”

The challenge of joining in the middle of the pandemic means that Weston and Kyle have yet to meet in the flesh, but otherwise, it’s all looking rosy. “I’ve gotten used to what the guys are looking for, and I think they’ve gotten used to my influences a bit more. I’m generally quite a poppy-orientated person, and now we’ve kind of met in the middle, so certainly in future releases I think we’ll start to see that a bit more, which is quite exciting.”

2021 began with features on hoards of Ones To Watch lists (including ours), the release of a 7” vinyl and more recently ‘Old Ways’ being playlisted on BBC 6 Music, making Shaun Keaveny’s Track of the Week. All good omens, Bleach Lab have their eyes firmly set on the future and at long last - the magic of playing their songs live, for each other and their fans, and in their fully-realised forms. Dream venues include the sonic safe-havens of London’s The Lexington, Brighton’s The Hope & Ruin; festivals, international festivals, and eventually Wembley – both arena and stadium, rolling in, if all goes according to plan, on a “personal tour bus, filled with kittens, kinder buenos and Café Patron” -  Kyle’s dream rider.

“I think basically,” Wates concludes, “there’s a lot more to come.”

A Calm Sense of Surrounding arrives 19 March.

More about: Bleach Lab