Dirty Laces’ newest single ‘All I See’ is a product of the pandemic. ‘This was one of those songs that came out of being locked away for a while,’ the band stated online. ‘We were more inclined to cherish the things that were right in front of us.’
It’s not hard to see why that was. The Manchester group relentlessly tours their psychedelically tinged music, so this temporary postponement of live events must have left its mark, as ‘All I See’ demonstrates.
‘All I have and all I need is here with me,’ sings vocalist Charlie Jordan. He’s accompanied by space rock staples. Effects-laden guitars and portentous, distantly recorded drums.
The runtime is brief – for a single with progressive rock influences – at under four minutes. However, this brevity isn’t due to a lack of ideas.
Rather, Dirty Laces attempt to compress a song the size of an epic poem into that of a Shakespearean sonnet. The dreamier first two minutes give way to a propulsive rhythm section.
Eventually, a galloping drum pattern emerges, Jordan’s vocals glide higher and bassist Tom Edwards’ playing becomes increasingly lucid. Suddenly the climactic finale has approached and the song concludes sooner than expected.
The result is an overload of good ideas crammed into a runtime too short for them to flourish. Nonetheless, each positively executed moment, of which there are many, suggests a bright year is ahead for Dirty Laces.