W. H. Lung | Every Inch Of Earth Pulsates

MELO141LP

18/10/24

Black vinyl

A huge thing for this record was to make it feel as close to our live show as 
possible,” says Tom Sharkett of W.H. Lung’s latest album. “We didn’t want it to 
sound live but we wanted to capture the excitement of the live performances.”  

This is something that has become paramount to the group in recent years as they 
have undeniably blossomed into one of the most joyous and arresting live bands in the country. “The reason I’m in a band is to play live music,” says singer Joe Evans. 
“For me, music is live music. That’s what it’s for, to be played with people.” 

The five-piece band, also featuring Chris Mulligan, Hannah Peace, and Alex Mercer
Main, decided to try something new on their third album after two incredibly 
successful collaborations with previous producer Matt Peel. In order to capture the 
energy, spirit and dynamism of their live shows, they relocated to Sheffield to work 
with Ross Orton (MIA, Arctic Monkeys, Working Men’s Club) who was able to 
harness this side of the band to remarkable effect. “Ross is the Sheffield Steve 
Albini,” says Evans. “He’s the king of not overthinking it and trusting the process of 
the art of recording songs. He was always there to stop us fucking around with 
cerebral stuff and get it down.” Sharkett echoes this too: “He was the exact producer we needed without us even realising. His productions and mixes are bombastic, lively and in your face and that’s exactly what we wanted.”  

However, while this album is rooted in a sense of capturing a moment and a sparky liveness, that’s not to say it’s a raw or ragged record. It is still a meticulously 
composed, delicately layered and pristinely produced piece of work that, in true 
W.H. Lung style, runs the gauntlet from dance to pop to indie while still capturing 
that distinctly unique quality that is unquestionably their own. “It was a really big 
thing for me to realise what made us sound like us on this record,” says Sharkett. “I 
think the album sounds a lot more confident and self assured because of it. Some 
songs sound just so much like Lung and I’m really proud of that. I’m not sure we’ve done that as consistently across the other records.”  

While the band have drilled deeper into finding their own singular identity, it’s not a record resting on its laurels. It’s a significant leap forward, expanding on their solid foundations while also breaking new ground. “The big difference with this record is its directness in every sense,” says Sharkett. “The songwriting is more upfront. Previously we’d focused a lot on vibe and production as opposed to just writing songs. The overall mission here was to revert to a classic songwriting structure and for the production to come afterwards.”

And so what you have on this record are deeply considered and well-crafted songs, then recorded with blistering intensity in the moment, and then given a touch of experimentation afterwards. Then throw in Orton’s contributions to the band and it’s proven to be a real winning formula. “He brought a real dose of magic to the songs we’d written,” says Sharkett. “And brought an extra bit of wonk and quirkiness each time.”  

The band’s ability to write more traditional and conventional songs is clearly a skill 
they’ve taken to with ease, at times there’s an almost Springsteen-like quality – but if he'd ever had an ecstasy period – to tracks such as ‘Thinner Wine’ and ‘Bloom and Fade’. While ‘How to Walk’ was constructed with one thing only in mind: that it would absolutely slay on stage. “I can’t wait to play this live,” says Evans. “We 
wanted a song to represent our live set, a new big one, and this is it.” Once again it 
leans towards the anthemic, with its driving, propulsive charge complete with 
incandescent synths and vocal melodies so irresistible you can already hear them 
being sung in unison by a crowd. 

It’s an incredibly difficult feat to pull off a record that is more rooted in traditional 
songcraft while also capturing the power of a live performance, as well as pushing 
sonics into experimental new directions while working with a brand new 
collaborator. But here the band has managed to do just that.  And the album’s 
closing song ‘I Will Set Fire To The House’ is a perfect example of such a thing. It’s a song that feels immaculately constructed but also very much alive and of the 
moment as its radiating synths engulf from the off, and Evans’ vocal is silky but 
powerful and in perfect symbiosis with Peace’s. It’s a song that captures the endless joys of music playing long into the night. “It may be a bit of a bloody bombastic way to end an album saying ‘and we’ll dance into the sunrise’,” says Evans. “But fuck it.” 

CLEARLY THE RESULT OF A BAND WHO INTUITIVELY UNDERSTAND THE DYNAMICS 
AND PULL OF THE DANCEFLOOR AS MUCH AS THEY DO THE ART OF CRAFTING POP, 
ART-ROCK AND THE ODD INDIE BANGER’ 8/10 UNCUT 

‘A glorious cavalcade of sub-New Order anthems, MBV shoegaze and the clatter of 
garage rock, the parts coalesce into a stunning hybrid which simply elevates you to 
psych dance manna. Their most satisfyingly complete album to date, with a sound 
which is simply majestic. Album of the year territory.’  ECHOES AND DUST