Low Low Low La La La Love Love Love have been making music from just outsid… Read Full Bio ↴Low Low Low La La La Love Love Love have been making music from just outside the Peak District since 2004. They’ve released three albums and, most recently, 2011’s Ghost E.P. on Miami’s Other Electricities. What started as two vocal harmonies and an acoustic guitar swelled to six band members around the time of 2009’s Feels, Feathers, Bog & Bees, then imploded back in on itself, leaving brothers Kelly and Ellis Dyson to see out most of these final recordings by themselves.

Last is Low Low’s fourth and final album. When the recording sessions finished, Kelly moved to London and then onto Europe. Since the day they turned the studio lights off on their way out, the tape machines, mixing desk, amplifiers and instruments have sat gathering dust. Recording was followed by a long stretch of mixing and mastering the album over and over between day jobs. Fast forward to today, and Kelly (vocals, guitars, etc.) and Ellis (drums, guitars, studio engineering, etc.) are in the strange position of releasing an album that is now just a memory.

On Last, Kelly and Ellis purposefully set out to redress what they felt was an imbalance in the channeling of their influences. Whatever lack of confidence had forced them to tend towards recording clarity over low-fi on all of Low Low’s previous albums, this time there was no doubt from the offset - Last would be resolutely low-fi. Whereas most of the songs here were recorded on 1/2 inch tape, a suite of tracks including “Guard,” “Bedroom Window” and “A World In Ruin” were put down on C90 cassette with the optional Dolby noise reduction firmly set to OFF, bestowing these tracks with a fuzzy character, excessive tape hiss and over-compression. The brothers really began to experiment with not just what they recorded, but also how they recorded. Having built and (attempted to) soundproof a small home studio, gone were the constraints of bedroom recording.

Musically, Last is less eclectic than Low Low’s previous couple of albums, but with purpose. The constricting of the band down to two members, the fixed studio and recording on tape all helped to create a cohesive thread. Low Low don’t veer far from their habits: acoustic and electric guitars, drum kit, the occasional banjo or piano. But here, on Last, the studio is an instrument itself. On “Dandelions,” a gentle folk song is buried under the white noise and tape hiss that swallowed the closing of the previous song. On “What You Wanted Most,” a shimmering Glockenspiel riff is played through a distorted amplifier. In “Bedroom Window,” the cassette tape is overloaded with drums before a swirling crescendo of amp noise engulfs everything and just as quickly dissipates. The collection is raw and sonically ragged but nothing is lost to the cacophony.

The themes on Last reflect the happenings in Kelly’s life during recording and the finality of the sessions. The songs take us through the end of a relationship, new love, goodbyes, migration and movement. Layered on top of these themes is the realisation, during writing, that these were to be Low Low’s final songs - as on the track “A World in Ruin,” on which Kelly refers to artwork for Low Low’s second album, Ends of June, “Words hanging on telegraph wires, and a long list of failures." - a bittersweet farewell, looking back on the good and the bad that life in a band brings. It's the album's title track and closer though which offers "one last crash of all the cymbals" bringing both the album and the band their conclusion:

"I’ve got nothing left to say without sending myself off to sleep,
And it doesn’t really feel all as bad as I thought it would..."

Last is out February 16th, 2015 via Other Electricities and Audio Antihero

The Way You Play
Low Low Low La La La Love Love Love Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

O' you have not been unwell

You mistake the feeling

A muffled alarm bell

Nausea

Behind every mouth there's

A sick tongue to be pulled

A blackened milktooth

A melody unhummed

And so we go

Over our black breath in the sun

If you lose the taste for

To unsing what you sung

You speak as if

It all makes a difference

A dumb tongue to be pulled

A blackened milktooth

A melody unhummed

The way you play

O' sleep in my useless one

You know come the morning

We'll stagger the long run

Nausea

I owe it nothing

Yet pay it through the teeth

It's not meant to feel good

At least it doesn't change

The way you play

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of "The Way You Play" by Low Low Low La La La Love Love Love are filled with poetic and metaphorical language that touches on themes of sickness, loss, and transformation. The opening lines "O' you have not been unwell/You mistake the feeling/A muffled alarm bell/Nausea" create a sense of confusion and ambiguity, suggesting that the singer is not quite sure what they are feeling or what is causing their discomfort. The line "behind every mouth there's/A sick tongue to be pulled/A blackened milktooth/A melody unhummed" adds to this sense of unease, suggesting that there is some deeper, hidden illness or trauma that needs to be confronted.

Throughout the song, there is a sense of grappling with these darker, more difficult aspects of life. The lines "If you lose the taste for/To unsing what you sung/You speak as if/It all makes a difference/A dumb tongue to be pulled/A blackened milktooth/A melody unhummed" suggest that the singer is struggling to let go of something, some past experience or emotion that they can no longer fully connect with. The repetition of the phrase "a blackened milktooth" adds to the sense of decay or loss, while the word "melody" hints at some deeper emotional resonance that is just out of reach.

Overall, "The Way You Play" is a haunting and evocative song that uses rich and metaphorical language to explore themes of sickness, loss, and transformation. The lyrics suggest a struggle to come to terms with difficult emotions and past experiences, and the haunting melodies and sparse instrumentation only add to the sense of unease and melancholy.

Line by Line Meaning

O' you have not been unwell
You appear healthy on the outside but you may be suffering on the inside.

You mistake the feeling
Your perception of your health may be misleading or incorrect.

A muffled alarm bell
A warning sign that is not loud or clear enough to be recognized or heeded.

Nausea
A feeling of sickness or discomfort that may arise from physical or emotional causes.

Behind every mouth there's
Everyone has their own hidden struggles and secrets.

A sick tongue to be pulled
Sometimes we need to confront and address uncomfortable or unpleasant issues to move forward.

A blackened milktooth
A small but painful reminder of something that cannot be ignored or forgotten.

A melody unhummed
A potential or unrealized opportunity, idea or creation.

And so we go
Life goes on despite our challenges and difficulties.

Over our black breath in the sun
Persisting through hardships and struggles, even when the conditions are unfavorable.

If you lose the taste for
If you find yourself losing interest or passion for something you once loved.

To unsing what you sung
Undoing or retracting something you have previously done, said or created.

You speak as if
You express yourself with conviction and authority, as if you hold the key to the truth.

It all makes a difference
Every decision, every action, every word spoken, has an impact and a consequence.

A dumb tongue to be pulled
Sometimes we need to force ourselves to speak up, to express our true feelings or opinions even if it's difficult or unpopular.

The way you play
Despite the struggles and hardships, the way you approach life and persevere is unique and valuable.

O' sleep in my useless one
Finding comfort and solace in someone or something that may seem insignificant or unimportant.

You know come the morning
Despite the darkness and uncertainty, there is always hope for a new day and a fresh start.

We'll stagger the long run
We may falter or struggle along the way, but we will keep going and persevere through the journey.

I owe it nothing
Taking responsibility for your choices and actions, without blaming external factors or circumstances.

Yet pay it through the teeth
The consequences of our choices and actions may come at a high cost or price to be paid.

It's not meant to feel good
Sometimes, the right thing to do or the necessary change may be painful or uncomfortable.

At least it doesn't change
Despite the hardships and pain, the underlying truth or reality remains the same.

Contributed by Eliana W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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