“Revolve Around You” is the new single from Pynch’s second album, Beautiful Noise. The London indie rock outfit took on a complete DIY approach to this release, with recording taking place in a bedroom studio in Brixton. The album artwork was shot on 35mm film and hand-coloured by their frontman Spencer Enock’s brother, the darker tones of the photograph lending itself to the shoegaze and electronic influence on the record. New member Myles Gammon has a strong hand at synths in the sound of this record, coaxing these songs into expansion. I’m a big fan of “Forever”, which echoes The Cure in the tempo picking up at the chorus while the guitar slides alongside the synth.
They’re experts in confessional and existential lyrics interwoven with metaphor. Their first releases saw them tackling this headfirst. On “Somebody Else”, the bridge culminates in a desperate plea for normalcy amidst chaos, with lines such as “I don’t wanna see another war / I don’t wanna feel like this anymore”. “Beautiful Noise” follows this, with lines such as “your lips are like a graveyard / with your name across my heart” on “Hanging on a Bassline”.
But “Revolve Around You” is a culmination of their new electronic elements to their sound, as well as their lyrical approach. It reads as the end credits to a one-sided relationship, unveiling the yearning for its brief moments. The confession “I fell in love with the coast of your jawline”, shines over the entire song and is deeply poetic in its nature. It’s the embodiment of the band’s lyricism, while the opener “I want your spit in my mouth” is meant to hook listeners in with a dash of shock value. Kissing is out. Spitting in their mouth is in, it seems.
The song reads as an individual who wants to move on but unable to bite back the begging for their person to return, making the lyrics almost a surrender to the romanticised relationship. The synths pick up and drop off between pauses of the chorus and the verses, almost as if hearing a pin drop. Guitars are what carry the entire track, from the chords swimming in reverb across the chorus to the acoustic strumming at the end. Enock’s vocals singing out the last lines add a tender conclusion, almost drawing the listener into the recording with this stripped-back approach.
Pynch’s music has settled itself into my playlists the last couple of years. Incidentally, I was slated to attend their show in Margate last May but didn’t end up making it for reasons. I’m happy they’ve returned to my periphery almost a year later in a full-circle moment; it feels like a do-over. With a London show in June at The Old Blue Last on the horizon, Pynch aren’t disappearing from my rotation anytime soon.
Written by Mira Dhillon
