TWO LANES - 'Lights' [EP Review]

Most people have one song that they can relate back to a special place or time in their lives. These kinds of songs make you feel something strong and you could experience a rollercoaster of emotions every time you listen to that song. On their debut EP ‘Lights’, TWO LANES have created six tracks that all relate back to different memories and experiences they’ve had, so you could only imagine how they must have felt when piecing their music together. Every song on ‘Lights’ makes you think of being somewhere and doing something. It’s like a soundtrack to life in general, made with analogue synths and emotive instrumentals.

The EP’s title track is one of my favourites. The strong piano track, delicate guitar melody and trickling synths remind you of driving through a city at night with the lights from the buildings around you dancing across your windscreen. It’s playful and soothing at the same time, a feeling a lot of people get when driving late at night when no one else is on the road. This track really highlights what TWO LANES are capable of creating. With interest in both electronic music and classic music, TWO LANES are able to bring those two elements together to create a beautiful sound that’s both emotive and fun to listen to.

Sliding synths, trickling samples and a distorted track come together to create ‘Wide Awake’, a song that has a lot more energy than its predecessor, but not so much that it will jolt you out of the EP’s overall dreamy haze. The beat on ‘Wide Awake’ is heavier and it’s what makes this track feel more alive. Honestly, ‘Wide Awake’ is a great name for the track because it reminds you of those times when it’s late, you know you should be asleep, but instead, your brain is running a million miles an hour.

‘Never Enough’ uses echoing vocals, delicate synths and acoustic samples to craft an image of something on the move. The beat acts as the grounding element of the track, while everything else glides above it. The lyrics on ‘Never Enough’ talk about “running” and “drifting”, which is exactly how this song affects you. It’s a track that reminds you of being on the move and potentially trying to get away from something you know just isn’t good for you anymore.

The most haunting song on ‘Lights’ has to be ‘Closer’. Swirling samples hover over atmospheric synths that create a smoky haze around the distorted vocals, but as soon as you think this track is going to be gloomy, the beat comes in. ‘Closer’ may be ghostly, but it’s also fun and a bit cheeky. The melody has a quirkiness to it that we haven’t heard on the EP so far and it’s infectious.

As soon as the energy on ‘Lights’ begins to appear, TWO LANES decide to bring things down a notch with ‘The Rest Is Noise’, a track that sounds like a warm sunrise. A guitar track opens ‘The Rest Is Noise’ with echoing vocals and every other element seems to blend into the melody seamlessly as the track plays on. It’s extremely calming and really gorgeous to listen to.

‘Lights’ ends on a more energetic note with ‘Lost’, a song with the most clubby-vibe. Sharper synths wrap themselves around samples that sound like glass moving across the concrete. ‘Lost’ dips between a heavy club beat and quiet atmospheric moments, but despite these, you still want to groove to it. The song ends the EP on a high and allows you to let loose after feeling all of the emotions on every other track.

Music can affect us all in a variety of ways and TWO LANES really highlight that with every track on ‘Lights’. There’s an emotion attached to every piece and at the end of it all, you feel rejuvenated in a way because you’ve let the music – and the memories they trigger – wash over you. ‘Lights’ is invigorating to listen to.