Lol I always forgot that I put those demos up on YouTube. Should probably update that download link in the description.
December is still my favorite. I really love how the song Hayley on Paint It Golden wrapped up those first records, but wasn't a fan of the rest of the album. Went back and listened a few months ago for the first time since it came out and it's better than I remember but still pretty mid
The guitar parts on illuminate add so much melancholy to the album they are one of the best aspects to the whole thing, one of my favorite sad albums. I love some of their songs on their future releases but they never captured the same magic for a whole album again.
Illuminate is one of the GOATs but I think paint it golden is still a fantastic release and a great winter album to listen to after the fall has worn out illuminate. I agree with the previous post that said there’s great stuff scattered elsewhere, especially when leighton is restraining himself more on the happy synths. Sounds of your dream and past life are top 5-10 songs. ironically, I thought liquor was their most consistent release since paint it golden. Yea it’s different, but I think if they had leaned harder into artpop sooner and less trying to straddle traditional Lydia with the cinema they would’ve been received better. There are still some gorgeous melodies and sounds on that album. Sunlight especially is also a top 5-10 song.
Nice to see lots of Lydia appreciation in here - There is indeed lots of great stuff scattered around their discography I also really love The Cinema's first album - Probably my 3rd or 4th favourite Leighton album
Run Wild had some real potential and great moments - that bridge in Coffee Drips is really cool and should have lasted WAY longer than it did. I've definitely said this before, but it feels like that was a theme of the last few albums - not really giving the songs any musical room to breathe, when it would have made the songs so much better (to me, anyway).
Man, that bridge is super dope, very ethereal. I wish they would let it continue to play or build up to something more interesting.
I have wondered for something like 17 years now, on the second verse of Always Move Fast, what is the line that sounds like "fucking nursery"? lyric sites seem to think it ends with "Beautiful trail" and maybe it does, but for a song that is so straightforward, this line sticks odd as "what?"
Just checked my CD. The line is: "Because there's no hurry. More like fucking nursery or a beautiful trail"
sorry for the double post, was just creeping back to the beginning of this thread and am losing my shit at the fact that I've never heard these before. More demos from this era make it so obvious why the band was never the same after Steve and Mindy left.
Maaaaaaan I am so skeptical about this new Illuminate release. I still love Leighton’s voice and want to support him, but the vibe is just not what I’m looking for from Lydia. I’ll absolutely be listening to it all when it drops and hope I change my mind, but I really miss the old guitar work.
Oof. Absolutely blunted the emotional impact of the original track by taking out the guitars. Gonna be a hard pass for me just like the December re-record
if that's the single he chose to lead with I don't have high hopes for the rest of the release unfortunately.
I feel like I'm in the minority that enjoys post-Paint it Golden Lydia. I like this version, though it obviously comes nowhere near the original.