Indie Blog Scotland - Seb Lowe: Make Me Your National Anthem

Seb Lowe is an extremely politically charged character from Oldham, Manchester, entwining his strongly inferred messages into anthemic sonic pulses one would describe as music - but what I described after seeing him live with the full band at the O2 Ritz as "f***ing magical."

A former theatre kid, his dramatics do not hide behind the curtain - in fact, he plays into them, utilising his acting repertoire both in the writing process and during his live performances. A creative to the core, he also crafts all of his own artwork, and finds himself building upon his fellow creatives. These come in the form of his band; Ben Etches (Guitar), Joel Goodwin (Drums), Sam Sumner (Bass) and Kate Couriel (Violin), all of whom are some of the top in the game. In particular, Kate Couriel featured on the charts-contending debut album from The K's - I Wonder If The World Knows, with her trusty violin.

When you add these musicians together, you truly get something special. In every single aspect of musicianship, of course, but also in terms of friendship. This is a band that's very tight, and know each other superbly well. You really do get the sense that they're all fully committed to this project, and there's nothing more enthralling than that.

To date, Seb Lowe has released a number of EPs, one studio album and one live album. Growing to TikTok fame at 18, he was quickly thrust into the spotlight as a solo artist, about as barebones as they come - just him and a guitar. In time, the band would form, and in 2023 the first songs would release as a group, and this brought a complete revolution to his sound. Almost instantly the band developed into something of an indie-pop group, briefly ditching this edginess that brought Lowe into the public eye to begin with. However, they found their footing, and quickly began to return to the origins - one Tory-slandering tune at a time.

Around the corner is the upcoming EP, Make Me Your National Anthem, which will be only the second as a full-band solo artist. With five songs released since March, I was amazed at the speed at which they work to put more and more content together. How much more is there to go? Pre-save engaged, here we go.

Well. I can't lie, I was very disappointed to see that Love Bomb was released a mere 8 hours before the EP itself, making five of the six tracks featured entirely available to download, listen to and learn prior to the full release. It was slightly confusing to me, until I remembered that the band are on tour through this month, and they wanted to bring the track out as a last minute push for everybody to learn before entering the venue.

My personal disagreement with 83.3% of an EP being available prior to its release aside, let's dive into the songs.

Personality Test leads the way - released around the time of the General Election in the UK, this song really targets the position of Prime Minister (and in particular the Conservative Party). Seb is almost rapping, as this is probably their most hip-hop style track in terms of drums and a couple of looped violin and guitar samples. Overall, it's tied into a nice little package, and does sound good, but personally I think it's a little step below the rest of their work. However, it did bring us this absolute bar and a half: "You possess the mindset, the heart, the sinister - your personality is fit for Prime Minister."

Surely enough, Love Bomb follows on - I hadn't listened to this too much prior to the EP's release as I didn't want it spoiled, but when I came across a reel on the bands' Instagram pages displaying the track, I had to give her a go. It's just too damn catchy, an almost perfect indie-pop track. Especially with the blend between Lowe and Etches' guitar tones, particularly during the solo to close the song out.

Jump Scare. This is already one of my alltime favourite songs, certainly from this decade. The first time I saw the band was also the first tour that they played this track live, and it really did set the precedent for the EP when it released all the way back in March. The beautiful blend of violin with Seb's theatrical vocals, bouncy drums, groovy bass and intertwined guitars is just absolutely sublime. The bridge is what absolutely makes the track, though - as Lowe presents a verse akin to a soliloquoy, accompanied by just drums and violin as he discusses the struggles of depression, relationships and metaphorical loans. This is an expertly crafted section of the song, being very relatable to a lot of people and it perfectly fits its structure.

Mr & Mrs Human Race follows, a song that was highly teased by both Lowe and Couriel for a very long time before finally releasing after months of waiting. The palm-muted rhythm guitar with the pairs' lyricism, this also being Couriel's first vocal feature on a track, is incredible - and beautifully complimented, yet again, by the drums, bass, and lead guitar; as well as Kate's own violin. The two get very animated when performing this one live as well, and it sounds just as good as in the studio (or so I'm told).

And you have been cordially invited... The Royal Family is the 5th song on the EP, serving as a direct assault on the monarchy. With a very piano-driven verse, in tandem with the violin and Etches' guitar, it certainly differs from the other tracks - retains the same energy though. Goodwin's drumming is absolutely on point with this track too - some of the clearest and tightest heard across all of the band's work to date.

The bridge serves wonderfully as we see Seb playing the parts of two characters in a discussion with a subdued but effective acoustic picking pattern, as the band slowly join in towards the end of this dialogue - utilising his wonderfully ranged voice in a chant that's been crafted in a manner that it'll have the whole crowd chanting back at the stage. The pace slows, but everything picks up to be a lot more aggressive and louder as the track closes out.

You can really hear the band's passion altogether, and I'd have to say their motives are fairly clear with: "All you're really gonna do is sit where the Queen sat."

Right. The one song that wasn't out before the EP released. And the song the EP is named after. Must be good to get that level of treatment. sigh...

Yeah, I don't really like this one. Make Me Your National Anthem is absolutely not what I expected. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the band experimenting with heavier sounds the way they have here, but I just don't feel that it works with the rest of the EP (or, indeed, wider catalogue) - but also with... itself?

The structuring baffles me. It goes from borderline grunge into poppy chorusy synthy piano with a diabolical key transition. That's not to say there aren't highlights - the whole outro sequence is exceptional, with Seb's vocals chillingly divine, and a beautiful instrumental background playing to each other beautifully. But despite its highs, this track's an overall no from me. That seems to be the wider opinion too, as this is the least streamed track from the whole EP.

So, let's see. Five of the six songs were not exclusive to the EP. Four of the songs are certainly fan favourites. One is a slightly more left-field opinion, and the other just... doesn't work.

It's a shame to have to drop its rating so much, but the lack of exclusivity to Make Me Your National Anthem and the letdown of the titular track make it incredibly difficult to give any more, despite the remainder of the tracks being future classics. Perhaps with a better release strategy this rating would be higher, but this almost feels like we've been missold an EP.

I usually can't commend Seb enough, but the release of this EP has been baffling, to say the least. So, sorry folks, but it's three stars from Indie Blog Scotland.

Overview

Overwhelmingly exceptional music, as always

Band performing in a extremely tight manner

Strengths

Weaknesses

The lack of EP exclusivity

The juxtaposition of some tracks within the EP (Ordering)

"Make Me Your National Anthem" (Title Track) being a serious letdown

EP artwork also seemingly a little lazy - copy + paste of all the single artworks