Lizzie Esau is a London-born, Newcastle-raised independent artist with a lot to say, and her own way of saying it. (I recommend this Narc interview for some background on her.)
And her latest release 'The Enemy' is quite simply, superb. The track is powerful: awesomely punchy, interesting, engaging, fun, challenging ... all of that.
The song starts with a brief but attention-grabbing intro - this is really well judged. It's just enough; there's nothing extraneous. Jangly guitars beckon you into the Lizzie Esau world, where you're welcomed with open arms and then subtly hit around the face with musical boxing gloves.
Once that well-packaged four-bar intro is over, Lizzie herself comes to meet you, delivering a verse of close-up spoken word vocals, sitting just on the edge of singing at times. Although I don't like to do this usually, I can't help but make a comparison with Wolf Alice's 'Don't Delete The Kisses'. I hope Lizzie takes that as a great compliment, because there are all the best elements of that song here, but with something more of an edge.
Then, in the pre-chorus we hear the vocals becoming filtered in a delightful way - it's like Lizzie steps back slightly, opens her lungs and begins to let go. This sense of building carries on right into and through the chorus. And that chorus - it's catchy, chanty, sing-along stuff, presented in a determinedly alternative way. This will work stunningly well in a live setting.
Band photo: Taken by Storm
The energy diminishes slightly for the second verse but it's not long before the distortion on the vocals gets turned up more, with a launch into another pre-chorus and full refrain. This is absolutely top notch, attention-holding stuff.
After that, we get a brilliant drop away - everything falls back, and we're left floating for a while. To keep us company there are wailing distorted guitar notes which seem to be suspended in the dark air, reverbed rimshots and subtle, low-down piano chords. Soon Lizzie returns with repeated vocals "One foot out the door, at a time, one foot, at a time ..."
A brief lift and then back in with thrummy, rich and full-powered guitars to take us through to a climactic ending. Here Lizzie's vocals somehow sound slurry and lazy and at the same time packed with confident power. There's no mistaking the punchy message here, either - it's a cry against everything that's wrong with "the system that's been keeping you down".
To be honest, this song is brilliant all round. I've had the track on repeat for a few days now, and I suspect this is going to be a track of the year for me ...
All of Lizzie's music has been self-released to date, and it's great to see that this hasn't stopped an obviously talented artist getting plenty of 'mainstream' attention. She's had a lot of support from many parts of BBC Radio 1, including Gemma Bradley and Jack Saunders, and was picked as one of the station's 2022 Introducing Artists to Watch.
To top that, Lizzie is playing the R1 Big Weekend on 29th May. There are some other great festival bookings on her calendar, including one of my personal favourites: Twisterella.
Have a listen below, follow Lizzie on Facebook or Instagram, and keep an eye out for an EP a little later this year, too ...