Wet Leg - moisturizer

Cupid’s arrow has made its way to the Isle of Wight and hit their foremost indie band right in the forehead: “I’m in love, and you’re to blame!” goes the final chorus of ‘CPR’, the opener to Wet Leg’s second album, ‘moisturizer’. Similarly, the rest of the record also sees love as a violent force that can’t be reckoned with, but can only be embraced. ‘moisturizer’ is a gloriously breezy album, beautifully adorned with sincerity and adoration. It still has the same laid-back slacker rock and eccentric witticisms of the band’s gargantuan hit debut, but it also does away with a lot of the irony that ultimately held that one back. As such, lead single and riotous punk stomp ‘catch these fists’ is an outlier, a transitional track that feels as if it could simultaneously exist on both albums, its burning authenticity mixed with cheap chuckles about ketamine. “Maybe we could start a band as some kinda joke” Rhian cheekily sings on closer ‘u and me at home’, yet with every layer Wet Leg add, they stray further from the novelty they could easily have been accused of in 2022. ‘moisturizer’ is a wonderfully crafted piece of work that cements Wet Leg’s staying power, an album to soundtrack hugging loved ones and spending the day with them doing nothing at all.