Frank Lloyd Wleft - Raised On Red Milk EP Review

With each track, Wleft's music evolves, incorporating various elements from London's vibrant music scene and infusing a British sensibility into the heart of Americana.

The debut EP of Frank Lloyd Wleft is charmingly warm and unabashed in its country inflections and witty lyricism. Hailing from north London, adding to the production are his ‘Orchestra’ (Will Ormsby on the drums, Trissy Fetch on the bass). Also featuring collaborators from the London music scene, “Raised On Red Milk” as a title alone brings about questions. Red milk, as in skimmed milk? Or Red milk, in a surreal sense? It’s probably the former, yet surreal intrusions take place on the EP that suggest it could easily be the latter. So, what to make of a sound that feels like the antithesis to the city its made in?

Released in July, the opening track ‘Caroline’ is a perfect example of stripped back approach that draws attention to the lyrics, paves interest for the ignitions of the instruments introduced later and how they fuel the narrative of the song. In this conversational approach, wooing a love interest comes down to proclamations of late-night walks and succumbing to beauty. Eclectic introduction of instruments that will feature heavy on the EP defining this Americana country sound.

Take You Over is an eight-minute exodus that begins a rudimentary country in its instrumentation, further supported with a chorus featuring the vocals of London scene compatriot Wildwood Daddy. This initial softness switches to confessional yelps tinged with an irony to the backdrop of Goat Girl’s Lottie Pendlebury fiddle playing. ‘I’ll be young I’ll be free even if it kills me’ is sung amongst a wall of distortion, as a rockier sound intrudes which seems perfectly fitting for the reality of modern young life in the capital.

Within the realms of both music and poetry, The Gilesgate Monologues takes the latter approach and starts out as confessional, painting a background for the narrator such as what builds him (‘My mother’s eyes/My father’s contempts’) to what he holds to his name (’12 GCSES, 3 A Levels, one good song’). He stretches outside of the narrator’s personal to look out onto the outer world, instilling the visions of late-stage capitalism and music today (post post punk bands probably do exist without the people making said punk unaware of their contribution to the genre) and the many facets of late-stage capitalism that. It’s an impressive depiction of a cultural storm that we have all found ourselves immersed in, taking a surreal turn at the end, Russian artists and philosophers from previous centuries brought back to life, are even scammed into the scam of Tesco Club cards.

A return to the stripped back in the closing track ‘Good To You’ ties the ribbon on top of the 28 minute sweet gift, honing in on the minimal over four chords and traditional lyricism of country based in a version of love and promises.

‘Raised on Red Milk’ takes to a sound from across the pond and adds a British sensibility to it. A welcomed balance of whimsy and truisms makes the project a gem amongst the London music scene for its introspections and faithfulness to the country sound.