"I felt like I was part of something" a thread for Real Lies

i voted for real lies, it spoke to the crushing sense of notalgia that was my 2020. also made me think of the beloved, who i also love in the same slightly-embarrassed-by-it kind of way

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I’m a bit embarrassed how deeply “Boss Trick'' got its hooks in; it did absolutely nothing for me on first blush but now I’ve played it forty times if I’ve played it once and I am afraid I’m likely to listen to it another hundred in the coming year. I’m amused but unsurprised that this hooked you Dan; keep fucking around with Real Lies and they’ll definitely getcha!

There’s just something about the blend of the warm and rummy bassline, the breathy vocals, the canned drums, the piano motif, the disarmingly rich electrostrings and that sample OH THAT SAMPLE; it’s all unmistakably, immensely corny but somehow evokes genuine **Ff3eeee1llzzz** “Clubby PM Dawn” is a very good description imo.

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The first Real Lies album, which I love a lot, is more like East 17 than anything else I can put my finger on.

They remind me of The Tough Alliance a lot though: immaculate hooks over synth-pop, swaggering and menacing delivery but celebratory joyous lyrics. I think TTA practice situationalism as a means of political escape in an idealised way, but for RL it manifests in the fleeting joy of nightlife and club culture.

They also make me think of Saint Etienne's first two albums - stylistically different of course, but both at a point in their careers where their music sounds tied to the city, and borne out of the thrill of the joy of pop itself, all samples and ambition.

I really love this band, I would have started a thread on them if I had had any inkling that ILM wouldn't hate it.

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apparently real lies once described their sound as 'dj sprinkles meets oasis' lmao

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQOfS-x6mqc

and rather fortuitously they've released a new song this weekend

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAvWmDP-Xtk

Oh wow why have I not heard these before?

i have nothing but warm feelings for these lads, even they make me cringe a bit (hello new song!)

i did enjoy their version of 'a raint night in soho' last year, they pretty much turned the pogues into a bark psychosis song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQQr4t72aVg

I feel like the cringe is part of the appeal: the way they skirt the boundary between lad swagger and earnestness, it feels disarmingly sincere

it's a weird kind of selling point, but yes - that!

I'm not an expert in these matters, but should thread be called "a mix between DJ Sprinkles and PM Dawn with the swagger of Oasis" (or something like that)?

I really missed a trick there eh

yeah boss trick is a ten, I love how it’s a tribute to the third guy who left the group, real earnest bromance vibes

Gorgeous merchandise that I'm vaguely tempted by: https://real-lies.bandcamp.com/merch/forza-rl-bliss-to-be-alive-scarves

As mentioned upthread, love the Ea(rne)st 17-ness of these guys

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12GveMzGUSg

another new one, getting a very strong sense of how the new album is going to sound when it finally arrives

Love “Late Arcades”. Though I think “Nicotine Patch” may be my favourite of the recent material.

Love the female/male vocal interplay on:

What you gonna use those sore lips for?
Making vows, breaking laws
Constant craving, settling scores
Football pools and cellar doors
Late enough to break
Stay cool son, ache, ache, ache, ache
Hold it inside
With all the reasons why

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Du8HPKqHZcI

I love this group

going to see them live tonight after it was postponed three (!) times and I am too excited

Ever since discovering this group, I've become more and more obsessed with them

these guys are wonderful.

"late arcades" is just >>>>>>

okay late arcades is outstanding

why didn’t anybody tell me about this band???

i found out about them in the 2020 ilx top tracks rollout i think? they were like 52 or something

this album has the potential to rule my winter if it comes out soon ish.

also i need the "bliss to be alive" shirt

the sweetest thing I’ve ever known

"since i" is a freaking anthem

It’s about late-night people living in a world that doesn’t want them. It’s about ecstatic taxi rides, drawn curtains, Bluetooth speakers and the sudden pull of strangers. It’s about burying yourself in words and warm bodies in an endless search for the right ones. It was ushered into the world by our friend Tom Watson and finished off by us, with the help of Tom Demac. It’s the next song from our new album and it’s for all of you.
lyrics
They tore the tongue from the town
Had the nerve to shed tears for the underground
Still need somewhere to come up now the club’s shut down
Aha, ha!
My heart lifts off the backseat, joins the bedtime birds
Numbers rule my life but I’m a man of words
But round her it surges like I can’t describe
Sin, sin, since I

Since I heard your name
I’ve been coming alive
The lines of your fingers
Can we head to mine?
Since I

Sin, sin, since I
Left you late
At Sunday light

It’s a city changing
A shadow play of what it was

It’s a different type of hedonist that wears the crown
Rave echoes are the currency in shutdown town
A sadlad reminiscence with the SoundCloud out
Aha, ha
I’m a caller you can count on in the fading light
I’m a counter you can call on in the dead of night
Young yearning, burning earnings
When the time is right
Since I

Sin, sin, since I

The roads are on surge but the urge has spoken
As one door shuts, another opens
Least till tomorrow when the spell is broken
Aha, ha…

If I were you, I’d forget about that day
Memory fades when you’ve let yourself down
Promises made in a cab, they fade
Well, where are the people who care for you now?
Summer sensoria, unite the euphoria
Get back on the chase and you’ll never come down
Daylight deceit makes you feel complete
Well, this is for someone who never slows down…

Since I

The sight of your shoulders
Laid by my side
Sin, sin, since I

We dreamt a dream of this town
In between the offie and the eider down
Can you hack another bag if you’re coming round?
Aha, ha!
Can you hear that banging bassline through your bedroom wall?
You shut down our clubs then six of us moved in next door
Least you can tell me now how you sleep at night
Sin, sin, since I

going to see them live tonight after it was postponed three (!) times and I am too excited

how were they? I see they're playing here in a couple of days.

I wouldn't want to spoil it but yes you should definitely go see them, they were excellent, the performance was full of surprises and everything was suitably banging, I think the next album is going to be the Saint Etienne/Burial/East 17 hybrid of my dreams based on the new material

fuck this stuff is good

It’s about late-night people living in a world that doesn’t want them. It’s about ecstatic taxi rides, drawn curtains, Bluetooth speakers and the sudden pull of strangers. It’s about burying yourself in words and warm bodies in an endless search for the right ones.

this is otm but also describes every Real Lies song?

Both "Since I" are "Your Guiding Hand" are fantastic.

I was just Googling around looking for news about their second album and Juno has the track-listing, artwork and even previews up. Haven't seen anything announced officially anywhere yet so I'm not sure what the deal is. According to Juno the album is called Lad Ash and comes out on April 22nd.

https://www.junodownload.com/products/real-lies-lad-ash/5393660-02/

My most anticipated album of the year at this point.

it's not unusual for retailers to accidentally post listings for albums before they're announced, lots of stuff gets leaked out that way.

going through their run of singles over the last few years & "late arcades" is so good, glad that's on the album since not everything is.

Theyve announced another show in Glasgow, it doesn't seem to be a "tour" but the date makes sense around this schedule for release

I’m gonna pretend that them leaving off their best song is some kind of 80s throwback strategy,

Genre: "breakbeat"

what I really want is a bonus disc of the "UNREAL" mixes of the singles.

they played Oh Me Oh My (Nicotine Patch) at their show so it's not like they've disowned it.

Yeah I guess that’s my point, the song even has the feel of a single that sits outside of the album it is adjacent to

lad ash is happening

The questions you've been asking for so long have finally found their answer. 10AM tomorrow 🕊 https://t.co/hUPal9RWEB

— Real Lies (@_real_lies) February 8, 2022

FINALLY

I'm hoping it's the same release date that Juno had (April 22nd) as that's quite soon, but I also have my fingers crossed that the track-listing wasn't quite correct and Oh Me Oh My is on the album

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lv9-l613aSM

https://real-lies.bandcamp.com/album/lad-ash

juno listing was accurate

new song is a vibe

Brilliant news!

Vinyl apparently includes bonus tracks never seen on vinyl before.

some dates:

We've also added new dates to our 2022 tour. Come see us if you like, all ticket links below...

1 April - Manchester, White Hotel
23 April - Rotterdam, Motel Mozaique
28 April - London, Pickle Factory - SOLD OUT
30 April - Glasgow, Nice N Sleazy
28 May – Copenhagen, VEGA
6 Oct - London, Heaven
28 Oct - Leeds, Belgrave Music Hall
29 Oct - Nottingham, Bodega
18 Nov - Dublin, Grand Social
26 Nov - Brighton, Patterns

no spoilers but the live show when I saw them was full of charming surprises as well as being made of complete bangers and I can't wait to see them again

yes to all that, and the gig i saw was very in keeping with the spirit of their music - something very ingenuous and sincere about the whole thing, maybe its just the times we've been through but it was a genuinely emotional experience

massive rabbits – with a vital message https://t.co/ITyxrltlQc pic.twitter.com/36mxex0Cre

— Real Lies (@_real_lies) March 10, 2022

If anyone is interested Real Lies have a very lengthy Spotify playlist called “Bliss to be Alive” and it’s an absolute trove of goodies

Updated every fortnight too!

woooooo

The Headache album is fantastic. New to me, and I'm buying it. Thanks!

new track: "A Land Beyond"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqMtMT_0bb8

How do all these non-album tracks manage to be so great

It would be cool if they collected all these tracks and released a singles collection or something at some point

on streaming it's on an EP with the other post-album singles (though weirdly with the album art) but idk if that's just the regular streaming practice

this one is my favourite of the bunch

Very excited about tonight. Looks like the fellow who was in the original three-piece line-up will be re-joining them for the evening.

Tom? Wow!

Finally managed to not be travelling when they’re playing in London, very excited…

My expectations were exceeded.

So jealous I wasn’t able to get to this.

This was the second time I have seen RL and on both occasions I came away thinking they could be a great live proposition, but aren’t. The highs are very high - a ferocious Towards Horses and an inevitably celebratory Boss Trick - but there is a fair amount of time when a combination of poor sound (didn’t hear a note from either of the women guest singers) and the conundrum of how to deal in a live setting with Kevin Lee Kharas’ whispered rap had people round me going back to their chat and their phones and their pints. I can’t think of another band I’d make this sort of remark about, but to make RL live shows as compelling as the recordings I reckon they could use a director to take the whole thing in hand, figure out solutions to some of the technical problems and help them to present themselves in a way that matches the thrilling, heart-on-sleeve wonder of their best recorded output.

Someone’s put the ICA show onto Spotify, here.

I've seen them four or five times and I've never struggled to hear KLK's vocals or any guests. I don't want to be the fanboy who supports them regardless of what they do poorly or inconsistently but to me it sounds like the problem was the ICA as a venue. I've seen them in a few different venues and had no complaints. I'll temper that with the fact that the last few times I've been front and centre in a crowd singing along full of people who adore them. But equally the first time I saw them I went solo and was in a 100-capacity room that hadn't even sold out and I could hear every word and felt there was a proper show, rather than just a gig, happening.

The new EP is excellent, it's the most The Tough Alliance they've ever sounded.

Kevin posting a picture of Bark Psychosis on their instagram, this one has always seemed very Real Lies to me...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVFBd7UEIhA

lol wow that's uncanny

1994!

EP is very good. that "Summer Rain" chorus sounded familiar to me and I finally placed it: Rihanna's part of "Monster"!

how are these guys live? I'm not entirely convinced about these guys (I seem to be alone on this on here....) but I'm willing to hear otherwise, would their live show convince a skeptic like me or is it strictly for the fans?

can they convince me to be part of something

lol you are not alone once you leave the confines of this thread, I’ve learned to my absolute chagrin

I've taken friends to see them who've been originally much less hot for them than I am and they've left as full converts.

@Murgatroyd - scroll up to my comment on 13th March 2026. I think some of the recordings are fantastic, but I’m not sure I’d bother seeing them live again.

They're in Toronto and Montreal this weekend so I suppose I can report back! But tbf I'm already a convert so idk how valuable my review will be

got tickets to the mtl show. very pumped. i like the venue too. hoping for an intimate affair packed with sweaty lads singing their hearts out

bad news :(

https://www.instagram.com/p/DZfFGaxiAW2/?igsh=MTF0bnhoYWZocG10MQ==

Kev's sick and they've had to cancel the shows

Sorry i hadn't read the second page - there will still be shows of a sort but no Kev

Dang that rly sucks. Hope they can rebook for another time

bummer. still gonna go for the dj set i guess

show was fun! chatted with patrick after his set, said they are hard at work on a new album

<3

"down and out" sounds as amazing as ever and i still adore the album. i was looking through my bandcamp collection and apparently it's only in 270 other collections??? that's fewer purchases than last year's album from noise artist kevin drumm. crazy. they really should have a much higher profile than they do.

I don’t get why people hate them, but people REALLY hate them

where are these haters, I must be with my people

(I don't HATE them tbh, but seriously where)

i had the feeling that when they took the poll - fuck was it last year? my memory is swiss cheese - people were a little eye-rolly about it. i don't get it. the tunes are gorgeous but really where it's at for me is kev's lyrics which i find just effortlessly evocative. i haven't felt as immersed in a convincing alternate reality - one that looks ugly and grimy like ours but with a sparkle to everything - through the work of any other lyricist really. i guess people have pointed out that the subject matter is all a little same-y but i don't think so at all, i feel like the continued work is just adding different / more avenues to the same world and seeing where they lead.

im a huge fan but I get why it doesnt work for ppl. it feels like the kind of work that's done before you do your 10,000 hours, or whatever. people are really down on that now. blog era that stuff did really well. it feels like a throwback in that sense

interesting. it sounds 10,000+ hours to me tbh, i don’t really hear much amateurism

Anyone Ive introduced to Real Lies ended up loving them

My reaction to the last album was kinda luke-warm but Wild Sign.. has since become one of my favourites by them.

I don’t think Real Life’s music sounds amateurish but it does sound like it naively believes in and insists on itself.

*Real Lies’, obv

It’s gauche in the way that telling someone you love them in the first month of a relationship is gauche.

I don't hate Real Lies, but I don't care about great lyrics when the sound is boring and backwards looking.

not to get all j cole stan "you need a certain level of intelligence to understand this music" but i do think for real lies' songs to really emotionally resonate you have to have lived what they're writing about on some level. i think the beats are great & the melodic moments really work but this is largely talk-singing about club nights, it's not really a universal idea of pop music where the inspiration is specific to the artist the lyrics are general enough to mean many things to many people. i mean, i think their lyrics do speak to emotional truths that transcend the club but part of their appeal is that they write lyrics that are tuned to a specific frequency that most of the world isn't really dialed into

"I felt like I was part of something"

I agree with what Jordan's saying but I also think from a songwriting POV it's very personal and idiosyncratic but not really very uhh trained in the ways of macro song structure /hooks / etc. that's what I mean about the 10,000 hours. its aiming for vibe first

i hadn’t realized vibes were out and trained macro song structure was back in, but i’m pretty out of the loop

xp j0rd - club nights a factor but there are lots of pop songs about club nights that transcend the ‘people who go to clubs’ demo. also tbh many veteran clubgoers don’t care for real lies. my occhams razor explanation is just that very few people can get down with british guy sing-speaking music

yeah i think it's more just that. I didn't have a ton of luck getting anyone into The Streets,uh,25 years ago.

Not a lot of singing til his second record but yeah.