In Earnest - In Earnest — AliveandGigging

In Earnest are a dark indie pop/rock trio from Southend On Sea, featuring the song writing couple Sarah Holburn and Thomas Eatherton, and the multi instrumentation of Toby Shaer.

2020 despite a global pandemic has been a busy year for In Earnest, they released their debut single Put Me Under in April and this was followed up by Come Upstairs in July and 29 in September.

During their formation in 2019, the band’s intention was to create meaningful art and unflinchingly honest lyricism as they explain:

We want listeners to connect, to feel something - our aim is to encourage discussion around difficult topics like mental illness. By sharing our experiences we hope to provoke thought and inspire others to start conversations as a result of our music.

Their six track self titled debut EP was released on Wednesday 7 October. The EP was produced and mixed by Peter Waterman of Longcroft Recording (Uriah Heep, Hattie Briggs) and was solely recorded in a converted barn using mobile studio equipment. The band embraced an organic recording philosophy by opting to record full live takes, implementing minimal editing and forgoing the use of autotune.

The EP starts with the most recent single 29 which capture the lyrical memories of Tom, supported by Toby’s ethereal string arrangement, which is sublimely complemented by Sarah’s dreamy synth pads and harmonies.

The lyrics will relate to all of us, I’m sure we have all reflected on memories of growing up and feeling older, I love the self awareness of the opening line when Tom sings “I wrote a letter to myself so no now else would have to read it”.

And the summer holidays are reflected in the verse “dragged away from all my friends, calebdar days stole my summer I'd miss Matthew's friendly ghost,
sunlight cured us of the shivers, threw my shoes into the lake, when school was done, freedom celebrated, all the hills and valleys climbed I never quite learned to tie my laces”.

29 reflects the perceived struggles of getting older as outlined in the chorus when Tom sings “you never see it coming, immortal ideas fade, I'm feeling so much older now 29 years today”.

Next track is their debut single Put Me Under which takes a look at anxiety, particularly from Sarah’s perspective. The song is a beautiful piece of tranquility, the soothing vocals of Sarah are just gorgeous, along with the plucky guitars and an ethereal riff it adds a real airy feel to the track. Imagine sitting on a cloud watching the world from above, that’s how it made me feel !!!

The song itself although offering tranquility, the subject content is heavy, discussing mental health and the issues around it, I particularly love the lyrics “everyone says just keep going until you see the light and I’ll just find a carousel and take a ride‘.

The following track is Come Upstairs and this is Thomas’ response to Sarah describing her mental health, similar to Put Me Under it is a stripped back almost acoustic sounding track that gives a real ethereal almost dream like melody.

Thomas’s emotive vocals are without doubt the centre point of the song, as he sings about his desperation in dealing with Sarah’s mental health issues when he sings “come upstairs my love I will take you any way you are I’m ill prepared and stone-cold scared, the same as you, when we dance around the fatal, we pretend there’s something left, all your senses are disabled, run down by loneliness, there’s a sun above the skylight but your sickness locked it out, there’s a war in every silence when the captain’s not around”.

The fear of losing Sarah is expressed with his poignant vocal as he sings “and your burden looks so empty, there’s no proof that it exists, just a chemical compulsion, ever-looking for the exit, for the exit, for the exit, for the exit….”

It’s another beautifully written emotional rollercoaster from In Earnest, once again they have exposed their own wounds, which will strike a chord with anyone suffering or dealing with mental health issues.

I like to think that the songs ends with optimism as Thomas sings “I am love from the highest places I am love, I know all your faces I am love from the highest places I am love, I know all your faces” which is a message to Sarah that he can spot when help is required and his love will always be there to support her.

The fourth track is the utterly gorgeous Fables, it’s got a fantastic melody, set by some gently strummed guitars and a very airy almost organ like synth.

The highly emotional vocals from Sarah really resonate and grab your heart strings as she sings about her struggles of worthlessness and struggling to deal with mental health.

There are some very poignant lyrics in the verses especially when Sarah sings “why are we waiting ?, why can I still take a breath ?, why are we waiting ?, shall we put all the fables to bed ?”.

But the most powerful describing that worthlessness is as the track plays out Sarah sings “sometimes I feel I’m doing nothing right, sometimes I feel like nothing, sometimes I feel I’m doing nothing right, sometimes I feel like nothing, sometimes I feel I’m doing nothing right, sometimes I feel like nothing”.

The next track is In Between and is a return to Thomas on vocals and this song is a triumphant ode to music and the importance it brings to peoples lives and wellbeing.

The track is brought to life by a charming guitar riff giving In Between the most upbeat vibe of the EP.

My favourite lyric comes when Thomas sings about listening to music and the joy of doing so with the words “gimme some more of that sweet, sweet dose through the speaker, I'm a junkie, you're my vice, pleased to meet ya”.

The final track of the EP is The House and this is a very stripped back guitar melody, almost a ballad, where the vocals are again undertaken by Thomas.

As usual with In Earnest the lyrics are very much heartfelt and emotional, I particularly liked the verse “these walls remember all that's said and done, and my heart has chambers where the sadness runs“.

The EP is a brilliant tapestry of tracks, reflecting on and raising mental health issues, nostalgia and exploring hope vs hopelessness with very pictorial descriptive lyrics and ethereal soundscapes, that add to the atmosphere of the recordings. The change up of vocals between Sarah and Thomas add different perspectives to the tracks and give In Earnest plenty of room for future vocal ideas as both deliver brilliantly.

To celebrate the release of In Earnest, the band are hosting Facebook and Instagram livestreams to perform songs from the EP on Friday 9 October at 8pm.

Tracklist