Review:'Stevens, Lee Michael' 'Broken Hearted Britain'
- Genre: 'Indie'
- Release Date: '27th September 2021'
Our Rating:
What a time to be alive, and what a time to release a single. Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse, we find ourselves in the middle of a fuel and energy crisis and staring at empty shelves in supermarkets with the very real prospect of a festive season bleaker than anything from a Charles Dickens novel or even an Eastenders Christmas special. Meanwhile, the Conservative part’s annual conference is in full swing, while they congratulate themselves on ‘getting Brexit done’ and the cost savings of cutting £20 a week from the poorest, most vulnerable families in the country and moan about how ‘grim’ it is to live on ‘just’ £82K a year over the national average of £31K.
The second single to be taken from ‘Part-Time Rock 'N' Roll Star’, the debut solo album from Lee Michael Stevens, lead vocalist/rhythm guitarist of The Swagger, is a mellow, slightly psych-hued slice of indie at heart, with some classic Beatles-esque harmonies filling out the chorus.
With its downbeat, vaguely melancholic hue, the acoustic-led ‘Broken Hearted Britain’ sends an ultimate message of hope, but listening to it right now, it’s hard not to feel despondent. But hope is important, or we have nothing, so we can thank – and not with the banging of pots and pans and ostentatious virtue signalling but by quiet appreciation – LMS for delivering a nice tune just when we need it.
