Last week saw Sea Girls release their stunning second album, Homesick – featuring thirteen guitar driven tracks that perfectly follow on from the London four-pieces debut, Open Up Your Head.
The deeply personal record came together when lead singer, Henry Camomile returned to his hometown of Lincolnshire at the start of the pandemic – leading him to address and reflect on both the positive and negative events from his past. We know from the band’s previous material how talented a storyteller Henry is and he leaves nothing to the imagination on Homesick, right from the lyrically raw opening track, ‘Hometown’.
Though Homesick delves into some of Henry’s darkest moments, it’s not a melancholic album and the band continue to deliver the uplifting singalong anthems that got them where they are today – the infectiously catchy and pummelling beats of ‘Again Again’ for example are a total juxtaposition to the sensitive nature of the tracks lyrics about relapsing and choosing drugs over friends. The same can be said of the nostalgia filled ‘Lonely’, with its punchy guitar and emotive lyrics; “I get a little bit lonely, when I’m not with you.”
Homesick presents a great deal of delicate lyrics – particularly on ‘Lucky’, which was influenced by Henry’s Great Grandfather’s time in the Second World War – and a lot is to be said about the frontman’s unique ability to develop these lyrics into a gratefulness for survival. Another fine example is the melodious ’Sick’, which covers the pressure of the world in lockdown (“I’m sick of the news, someone’s always dying”) before taking a new direction by placing its focus on other people and how they were feeling; “I’m sick that I never asked how do you really feel“.
‘Cute Guys’, one of the softer and acoustic additions of the album sees the band wind down, before its vulnerable lyricism is met with an explosion of instrumentation. ‘Friends’ is another melodic number – with poignant lyrics that pay homage to friendship, it’s a lighthearted track that oozes with the youthfulness that runs through the bands music.
There’s a reason that the term ‘difficult second album’ exists, but failure to live up to the high standards of their debut album isn’t something that Sea Girls have to worry about. Whilst they’ve maintained the same glossy indie sound that they shot to success with, that’s not where their potential ends and they’ve proved this with the element of maturity that’s laced throughout Homesick.
Sea Girls are currently in the midst of a tour of UK record stores in support of Homesick and will be embarking on their seven date ‘Hometown’ tour in November.
