- Overmono make the leap for the mainstream with their long-awaited debut album, which ups the ante when it comes to melody, hooks and all things pop.
- To say that Good Lies is one of the most anticipated records of the year would be an almost comical understatement. Tom and Ed Russell, the brothers behind Overmono, began releasing music together with Arla in 2016 and their star has been steadily ascending ever since. Their sound has, more or less over the past seven years, flirted with a universal hedonism—stadium-sized melodies, earworm-y vocal cuts, earth-shattering breakdowns—that makes their records the kind you call "track of the year." Overmono have come to dominate the underground live circuit in recent years, and on Good Lies, they at long last lean into their populist tendencies with the confidence of producers primed and ready to break through to the mainstream.
In many ways, it makes more sense to understand Good Lies as a pop album instead of a dance music one. The average track length hovers at just under the four minute mark, and every cut, save for the atmospheric "Vermonly," is built around vocal samples that lend it an all too distinct verse/chorus/verse feeling, at least in techno terms. Perhaps most surprising of all is the way the drums are often pared back to their most elemental forms, operating functionally—almost perfunctorily—on the album's most approachable tracks.
This is quite a departure for the duo, who dispensed breaks and drum fills with aplomb not only in their previous output as Overmono but also in their respective solo projects as Truss and Tessela. Their newfound percussive minimalism allows the melodies to take centre stage and work their way deep into the subconscious. Prepare to have a merry-go-round of vocal hooks from the album on loop in your mind at any one time—it's the hallmark of a consummate pop record that translates just as well on a Spotify playlist as it would at, say, Coachella.
Good Lies is the crystallisation of the Overmono method: nostalgic yet never maudlin, genre-agnostic but rarely gimmicky, and always, always paying rightful homage to the legacy of the hardcore continuum. Despite the album's clear pop sensibilities, it's most effective when the Russell brothers' love for UK dance music history shines through. Low-end roller "Arla Fearn" is a standout, instantly calling to mind the 2-step swagger and the propulsive sub stabs of early Burial. "Skulled," too, lovingly embraces UK techno tradition before melting into a wistful piano solo that wouldn't feel out of place on Drukqs.
It's not purely retrospective though. Tracks like the reggaeton-meets-rave "Cold Blooded" and the Noah "40" Shebib-esque production on "Walk Thru Water" feel undeniably of the moment, and are nods to the duo's XL label mates Mssingno and Dark0, who have made their names turning out sad bangers that flip pop anthems into tear-jerking club weapons.
All told, Good Lies is a whirlwind tour of UK rave past and present, but what feels ultimately lacking is a sense of futurity or momentum. There are few surprises here, little we have not already heard before. Their debut album is in some ways a victory lap, but it's hard to begrudge one of the hardest working duos in the game, who have given us back-to-back hits like "Diamond Cut," "So U Kno" and "Everything U Need."
There are times, however, when the Overmono method veers off-course into the formulaic, such as on the album's title track, which if truth be told, would be tricky to tell apart from the thousands of saccharine uptempo anthems you'd hear in a Topshop fitting room. For the most part, though, their method bears fruit, yielding an irresistibly catchy pop record that holds true to its humble Welsh roots.
Tracklist01. Feelings Plain
02. Arla Fearn
03. Good Lies
04. Walk Thru Water
05. Cold Blooded
06. Skulled
07. Sugarushhh
08. Calon
09. Is U
10. Vermonly
11. So U Kno
12. Calling Out