best of 2023 • Lower Plenty • The Great Pretender

In the corner of my mind  there's a little town 

Like a ghost it follows me around

 I go away, I lay awake

 I go so far away I see the face.

  Stop thinkin' it was all so easy 

Stop drinkin', well that's not so easy 

Layin' in bed you talk about behavioural theory 

I go to sleep underneath you janglin' jailer's keys

The songwriting on No Poets is steeped with the space intertwining acoustic guitars allow. By relying on these thin melodies to hold together the compositions, the potential for No Poets to run off the rails is real but Lower Plenty appear at their most concrete. Central to this cohesiveness is Sarah Heyward and Daniel Twomeys’ percussive dialogue which expands here. These sturdy rhythms float amongst Heyward’s uneasy sonic hazes. Get ready to spend aimless afternoons listening to this record.