10/01/2025
Single Review: Trigger by Lythium
It’s January 2025 and our first review of the year is from Preston-based alt-rockers, Lythium, who release their first single since last October’s Rules, the dynamic and fascinating Trigger.
Reviewing the band back in September (when they supported These Wicked Rivers), we described them as assured and confident and as “ones to keep an eye on”. Well, in the few months since that show at The Ferret, this talented four-piece seem to have made major strides forward if Trigger is anything to go by.
A beguiling and deceptive number, it starts off as one thing, morphs into another and just when you think you’ve got your finger on what it’s all about, it changes direction once again. In so doing, it plays with and confounds your expectations creating something memorable and quite different from many contemporary rock songs.
Opening with a clipped vocal and sparse stop-start arrangement that eventually segues into a more melodic and traditional section, the playing is powerful and forceful and you’re lulled into thinking this is going to be the template for the whole song. Then, at the half way mark, the power drops away to be replaced by a delicate gorgeously quieter passage, with subdued and gentle guitars and the haunting refrain of “everywhere you go, heaven’s right beside you” before building and building, bringing back the more kick-ass elements and finally coalescing into a vibrant sonic tapestry of sound and emotion. And just when you think the band can’t take it any further, a furious drum fill heralds a change of tempo and a heads down, balls out, frantic race to the finish line.
The band members describe themselves as each having differing influences and this is evident in the eclectic components of the song; there’s a lot going on here, the song only revealing its complexities gradually and rewarding repeated listens with a greater appreciation of its depth and layers. In the hands of lesser musicians, a song like this could have resulted in a confused, disjointed end result, but here nothing could be further from the truth. On Trigger, Lythium show off inspired song-writing and bold playing, enhanced by thoroughly impressive production values that deliver a wonderfully big and warm sound.
Trigger is released into the world on 16 January 2025, you can pre-save it at the link below, so start your year with something a little different and really rather fabulous.
Pre-save: https://lythium.ffm.to/trigger