Listen to thee, and it’ll set you free
Lovechild is a trio act hailing from Manhattan, New York. The band consists of Leo Liebeskind – otherwise known as Leo Lovechild, and twin brothers Aaron and Wyatt Mones. Liebeskind is front and center as lead singer, with Aaron on guitar and Wyatt featured as a multi-instrumentalist and producer.
The group contributes their inspiration to The Beatles, Bob Dylan and Father John Misty. As a result, Lovechild’s music is folksy, with a heavy blues-forward sound and featuring many psychedelic guitar solos in between. Their newest, 9 track album All You Need is Lovechild was released in January 2022 and features songs such as “Hats Off,” “Baby Won’t You Pass Me the Light,” “Ocean Hill,” “Sunshine” and “73.”
Starting off the album, “Hats Off” is a 3 minute and 40 second track which showcases hard-hitting blues-influenced piano lines, low and soft distorted guitar solos and vocals reminiscent of The Growlers. This song is considered to be part of the group’s origin story, as it is credited for pushing the trio into making the band Lovechild official as reported in impose magazine, with various songs to be produced in the years to come.
Moving forward into the album, “Baby, Won’t You Pass Me the Light?” showcases elongated vocals, prominent synchronization between guitar riffs and happy, upbeat drumming patterns. In an article from pm studio, Liebeskind explains how it “took about 5 minutes to write and about 5 years to record.” The story behind the lyrics stems from his infatuation with “someone who I could tell it was never gonna work out with, but we got high together, a lot, and so it felt like I had to write a song about coming to terms with just asking her to pass me a lighter, if nothing else.” The lyrics “Baby it’ll all work out all right/Just as long as you’re by my side at night/ I kind of got a feeling that these loose ends won’t get tight/So baby won’t you pass me the light” showcase the root of this song’s inspiration in full display.
The track “Ocean Hill” starts off very calm with a low distortion from an unknown source, that then quickly kicks into high gear with an upbeat folksy guitar strum. From there, this multi-faceted track transforms into a psychedelic, beachy beauty that is reminiscent of New York, San Francisco, or any city by the sea for that matter.
“Sunshine” once again utilizes instrumentals such as electric and acoustic guitars, with the help of the piano and drums to keep the beat. Strong and unique lyrics such as “staring at the city, tall trees of the jungle” allow this track to distinguish itself from other songs of the same genre, which sometimes tend to use lyrical cliches.
In “73” Liebeskind once again establishes himself as a fresh writer within the indie rock music scene. The lyrics “And I don’t think about you lately/Till I see your face in a picture baby” showcases a modern take on the traditional love story, one that is more up with the times. Additionally, the lyrics “it’s just an illusion/Dancing in the neon lights of confusion” utilize Liebeskind’s background in poetry to its full capacity.
All You Need is Lovechild surely deserves more listens than it currently has. It is both unique in its lyrical delivery whilst still keeping in line with its indie rock takes on the blues, use of electric guitar in its various delivery and a hint of surfer rock just under the water’s surface.
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