There is nothing better than writing about the new record by a band that you absolutely adore, and mean the world to you. My love for L.A. Witch is ridiculously huge, and going by how phenomenal ‘PLAY WITH FIRE’ is, it’s clearly going to keep on growing. They are just a joy to listen to, and before I get into this record with you- just know that it is easily my favourite record of the year.
‘PLAY WITH FIRE’ consists of 9 songs to simply blow your mind to pieces and to leave you shaking, wanting more and more. It is loud in all the right places, and you can really hear how much the band have grown. I’d say they have perfected their sound, but they did that years ago. ‘PLAY WITH FIRE’ is such a solid record and every single song is hypnotising, with killer slick grooves that stick in your brain for days. Weeks.
For me, I’m calling ‘Sexorexia’ as THE ultimate L.A. Witch song. It’s got the distorted vocals, it’s got the reverb. The drums that make every part of you move in ways you’ve never moved before. The bass ripples through you, and before you know it every ounce of this song has consumed you. Well, let’s be honest- the whole record consumes you, and that’s what makes it such a fantastic record that you just cannot get enough of. The way Sade sings, “I’ve been walking around with the dead for much too long” just sticks in your brain. You can’t help but go back to that line constantly, I feel it’s one of those lines that for some it could mean the world to someone who is a little bit lost. I can relate to it a lot.
With this record, Sade, Irita and Ellie have again made you feel like you’re taking a road trip on a dusty road into the unknown. You don’t know where you’re going, but you’re going to take your time and you are going to have this record blasting out hella loud. How else would you listen to this glorious record?! You feel like you’re on the run, and ‘Motorcycle Boy’ is the perfect outlaw love song. This song, and the record in general just blow your cares away. It is such a freeing record, and it just feeds your soul in the purest way imaginable.
At times on the record you feel you’ve stepped back in time, and Jim Morrison is alive and well in the songs. You notice this the most on the glorious ‘Dark Horse’, and something else to really notice on this song is the power in Sade’s voice. There are moments on songs like ‘I Wanna Lose’ that show us exactly why they are brilliant musicians. The riff on ‘I Wanna Lose’ is still one of my favourite things of 2020- you’ve got Ellie beating the living daylights out of the drum and Irita comes in with this raw sounding bass. Mix this with Sade’s guitar and you truly have one of the best singles of the year.There’s an attitude to this record that completely rules you as you listen to it. You feel you can take on absolutely anything and on the other hand, the record takes you deep into this different world. You feel like you’ve joined a biker cult or something, and every song on ‘PLAY WITH FIRE’ is your anthem.
L.A. Witch are a band that you HAVE to see live, and although this year is probably not going to give us the opportunity to do so physically, the band are streaming the release show for the record this Thursday (10th) via Gold Diggers, and you can grab a ticket here .
