Ideal Living – ‘The Big House’ EP review: Brighton’s post-punk opera
Brighton has always boasted a rich musical heritage, but the seaside resort seems to have cultivated a particularly strong scene at current, and Ideal Living are rapidly rising to the forefront if their newly unveiled EP, ‘The Big House’, is anything to go by.
The Skinny: EPs are a lost art within the modern musical landscape. In many cases, these releases are simply used to collect whatever disparate material a band has to their name, provided they don’t have enough material to make up an entire album. As a result, modern EPs tend to come off as little more than disjointed samplers, whereas Ideal Living have chosen to showcase their innovative approach by creating a self-described ‘indie-opera’ over the course of ‘The Big House’.
Over the course of four tracks, the release guides listeners through a dark, brooding narrative, supported at different points by blaring horns and suspenseful synths. Almost regardless of what the music itself sounds like, though, it is that kind of narrative experimentation that helps set Ideal Living out from the rest of the ever-saturated indie and post-punk realm, in addition to re-enlivening the lost art of the EP.
Musically, ‘The Big House’ is an amalgamation of different influences, opening with a Suede-esque guitar riff before delving into the epicentre of the modern post-punk sound. With the addition of horns and the often hushed, theatrical vocals of Billy Marsh, the EP bears some irrefutable similarities to the likes of Opus Kink, whose grip on the Brighton music scene still seems fairly inescapable, years on from their initial emergence.
Ultimately, the musical content of the EP itself is not overly revolutionary, typically falling in line with the wider indie and post-punk scene of the moment, but that is certainly not to say that there is nothing to be gained from the release. Its narrative, theatrical focus make it an engaging listening experience, and, along with the undeniable instrumental skill of the group, provide a wealth of great promises for the future.
The Verdict: While ‘The Big House’ does not reinvent the indie wheel, it is a strong endorsement of Brighton’s current musical landscape, and its operatic quality singles the band out as having deeper musical ambitions, which are only likely to grow and develop as they march on.
Stand-out track: ‘Come To Me’
Release Date: January 21st, 2025 | Producer: Ben Hampson | Label: Crafting Room Recordings
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