With their debut record 'SELF TALK' premiering this fall, the indie duo performing as PAVILION are no amateurs to the concept of spotlights. Being featured on BBC and Spotify's top-rated Indie playlists since their conception in early 2019, their bonds as friends was the milestone for which their moniker and aspiring creative intuitions were born.
What's most notable about Benji Lamb and Stu Berry is how they succeed in manifesting their creative energies through addictive hooks, genuine lyricism, and thematic orchestrations that are always staying pure to their ethos: honesty and authenticity.
This year, with an enthusiasm that appears fervent in nature, the indie-rock and pop amalgamating duo, coming to us from Brighton, have conveyed their next chapter in sonically adhesive offerings with "IN CONTROL," a further development in their sound as they look out across the highest vantage point of this eclectic cut from their upcoming Extended Play.
Benji Lamb describes "IN CONTROL" as "hard-won happiness about desperation and craving to feel something wonderful."
Inspired by the complexities of living in a metropolis and all the stadium-sized ambition attached, this track pops free like the cork of a champagne bottle. It's a contemporary mix that swells and erupts through the persistent chug of scintillating electric guitars, a resounding low-end, and a topline that performs like the beginning of an anthemic indie-rock epic poem. With the utilization of a more subterranean vocal performance, it sets the tone as if we're at an underground poetry club where Lamb himself recants the lyrics of his sonnet amongst the bells and whistles of the orchestrated rock band behind him.
The drums cascade with cymbals thrashing from edge to edge, and the feeling of our rallying spirits is undisputable once we reach the definitively galvanizing chorus. Here, the track finds its base amongst the dynamic and driving energy of Lamb's expressive topline, as it settles between sonnet-like stanzas and an uprising chorus that projects as if he's howling to the moon; loud with an impassioned spirit and relentless rawness.
With "IN CONTROL," the UK-based duo solidifies their ethos in stone and sets ahead an energetic cut from their upcoming Extended Play that's sure to find a spot on our favorite playlist this November.
Hello Pavilion and thank you for joining us at BuzzMusic. What has been the most impactful lesson you've discovered in your artistic process throughout the recording and the eventual release of IN CONTROL?
IN CONTROL is our most personal release yet, it was a very cathartic writing process, channeling my own social anxiety & yearning to grow/evolve in a positive way. I learned to open up in the studio & wear my heart on my sleeve in the vocal booth. PAVILION is lucky to have a great relationship with our producer Julian Tardo, I think that connection has become increasingly important.
If you were to condense this song's experience or message in three different emotions, which would you choose and why?
Anxiety, Self Growth & Honesty. When creating music so personal, it only really makes sense, to be honest, you have to stand by what you've produced. Anxiety definitely shaped & drove the creative process for IN CONTROL. Ultimately the desire to be 'in control' is futile, with the more anthemic choruses opening up with a yearning to 'grow' - to overcome the negative cycles we fall into / our own personal demons.
How would you describe your mindset going into the "SELF TALK" EP, and have there been any meaningful of impactful artistic breakthroughs concerning your sound and style?
'SELF TALK' has been quite an experimental period for us, as our debut EP, we wanted to showcase the evolution of our sound. IN CONTROL is where we ''arrived'' in terms of a more finalized sound.
However in UNSETTLED, we went darker & heavier, INFINITE more big & anthemic VS HAUNTED, an indie-pop number. Despite that variety, we've pulled the EP together into a cohesive body of work.
What can we expect from the upcoming EP set to drop this November, and are you planning on delivering any other sneak speaks from this record in the next few weeks?
EP set for release 11th November - we're supporting the acclaimed Lottery Winners at Prince Albert on 13th. & we'll be featuring previously unreleased music on the EP.
What has been keeping you inspired throughout 2020?
Without live shows, just have to stay motivated, been continually releasing music, previous single INFINITE landed on ''Spotify's Hot New Bands'', which was a much-needed boost at a strange time with Corona/Lock Down, etc..