South London quartet Bleach Lab have been gaining momentum over the past few weeks since the release of their debut EP A Calm Sense of Surrounding released in March.
The group’s sound is reminiscent of ‘90s tinged dream pop romantics with a dark undertone in the vein of Mazzy Star combined with the catchiness of Alvvays. Lead Singer and Guitarist Jenna Kyle’s strident vocal sits confidently above a dense layer of hypnotic instrumentals that evokes a tone of melancholia.
Joined by Guitarist Frank Wates, Bassist Josh Longman and Drummer Kieran Weston, the quartet began releasing their first singles in 2019. The band seemed poised for a breakout year in 2020 before their plans were washed away by the pandemic and personal trials.
Nevertheless, Kyle and Longman’s songwriting prowess turned their grief into a powerful heart-on-your-sleeve statement that became A Calm Sense of Surrounding.
The EP’s lead single “Old Ways” captures the emotional waves of fractured relationships with its lush atmospherics and Kyle’s dire vocals.
Below, Bleach Lab shares how painting, Yu-Gi-Oh, board games and binge-worthy television series have helped get them through the year.
Jenna Kyle
The past year has brought so many new challenges and has been a real struggle for everyone. I’ve managed to get by quite well by focusing on teaching myself to draw and paint. I’ve always been artistically inclined, but never very disciplined with it until now. I try to put aside at least half an hour a day for it. I have also been lucky enough to spend lockdowns in an environment where I am able to explore cooking new foods and putting more time into it than I would usually be able to. I must also pay homage to Gilmore Girls, Orange Is the New Black and Parks & Recreation. I don’t know what I would have done without you.
Frank Wates
My house and I are really into board games and we tried out a bunch of new ones with all the free time. We found some great ones but a highlight has been this game called Dixit. It’s a lot of fun, beautifully made and kind of quirky. But it’s also a really creative game, so every time we played, it kind of jolted me into thinking creatively and I often found I had flurries of progress with songwriting soon after playing it.
Josh Longman
During the lockdown I had friends getting into wholesome activities like learning to paint or start doing yoga to help cope and deal with the never ending loop. I was planning on learning taxidermy as something a little different. After a short discussion with the housemates they were not impressed and I had to search elsewhere for ways to occupy myself. I settled on a card game called Yu-Gi-Oh as the next best thing. I learned the rules and taught my housemates how to play and we were off to the races. After lockdown is over I plan on entering a tournament, having all my friends come and cheer me on like it’s the darts, singing The Fratellis dressed as banana’s pints akimbo. I also started creating short stories and poetry as an outlet to help with future lyrical content and song Ideas.
Kieran Weston
My lockdown was a strange one, as I was between jobs and houses for the most part. It hasn’t been an easy few months but thanks to a whole load of Domino’s, Bon Iver’s 22, A Million and the U.S. Office. I actually managed to remain incredibly productive, and wrote a ton of new music while finally completing some long term design projects. Somehow I’ve come out of lockdown 3.0 in a better place than when I went in, so I strangely owe quite a lot to the last few months!
This interview has been edited for clarity.