South London newcomers Little Egret released their infectious debut single ‘The Balance’.
Produced by the acclaimed Brett Shaw (renowned for his work with Gorillaz, Mura Masa, Foals, and Florence and the Machine), ‘The Balance’ offers a strikingly complete sound despite being the band’s debut. Bouncing and vibrant, the track captures a euphoric feel-good tone while also displaying a sense of urgency, directness and emotion through the vocal performance.
Bright jangley guitar riffs pull the track forward whilst, driving, groovy drums and subtle synths create an inviting indie backdrop. Led by the dual female/ male vocal melodies, the band create a nostalgic brit-pop essence whilst retaining a commercial likability.
Describing the inspiration behind ‘The Balance’, Little Egret shared: “When we were playing the song instrumentally, the little pre-chorus, the ‘I don’t want to suppress it’ came really easy and just fit well with the build of the music. It led pretty naturally to the idea that I had emotions that I wanted to express but felt like I maybe couldn’t. For a while I had the song’s working title as PDA-ok in my notes – because it was inspired by a night out with my boyfriend and some other friends where they joked we were being too couple-y and in love. So when I told the band that idea, they got the vibe completely and we worked on bringing it all together.
Musically we were trying to smash together the sound of earnest and energetic early noughties rock with more modern synth-jazz stuff. We started with an old Motown-influenced drum beat, with those washed out opening guitar chords as the next step, and then filled it out with a bunch of hotwired guitar riffs, synth whooshes, and layers of echoes and delays and whoops. We make music because we enjoy it, so we captured samples of us laughing and messing about during the writing sessions and dropped these in too, to bottle that sense of fun and make sure it shone through in the track.”
Listen below: