Lime Garden - Maybe Not Tonight

Expanding the synth-laden, indie-pop palette of their 2024 debut, ‘Maybe Not Tonight’ sees Brighton quartet Lime Garden revel in the gory details of an emotionally-volatile rager, channelling the fallout of all four members’ various break-ups into a vibrant, gleefully messy record that positively thrums with life.

Opener ‘23’ sets the scene: swaggering along with all the liquid confidence of peak pre-drinks, its baggy, Madchester strut is the perfect foil for vocalist Chloe Howard’s minor existential crisis: “At 17, I had the world at my feet / At 23, I just lost it”. Standout ‘Cross My Heart’, too, is imbued with the acid-hued funk of Happy Mondays via glitchy percussive breakdowns and an irresistible bassline, which in turn explodes into a pint-hurling pinnacle worthy of Franz Ferdinand’s biggest choruses. ‘All Bad Parts’ and the title track lean further into ‘00s nostalgia, a pair of propulsive electroclash paeans to self-destructive partying, while later, ‘Undressed’’s sticky sadness is offset by a keys solo of which The The would be proud.

Rather than leaning purely into the unfettered euphoria of the dancefloor (as seems to be a theme with other releases of late), Lime Garden instead opt to peer between the cracks and examine the unromanticised reality of a big night out - the kind which, alongside the bravado-filled bus ride and ill-judged Instagram Stories, is underpinned by the sort of self-conscious meditations on body image, self-worth and identity that only four double vodka cokes can conjure. Doubling down on Lime Garden’s refreshingly unpretentious sound, ‘Maybe Not Tonight’ is a new indie disco essential.