EP: BLAB – ‘Word Of Mouth’

The sound of what happens when you fully embrace your choices and lean into the raw power each moment, Southend-based musician Francis Murray aka BLAB has shared her debut EP, Word Of Mouth. Released via Cool Thing Records and formed of three previously released singles and a brand new track, BLAB combines direct lyrics with infectious riffs to push past personal and political frustrations, providing her listeners with sharply observed judgments on both.

Fuelled by her disdain for current political policies, opener ‘Eton Mess’ is a rumbling “anti-fascist anthem” that proudly sticks two fingers up to the establishment. It’s one of two tracks that see BLAB take aim at the crushing nature of conformity, with the restless ‘Insurance’ providing another dose of much needed eye-rolling at conventional ideas of power and success.

It’s on new “anti-love song” ‘If Only’ and astrology-inspired single ‘Gemini’ that BLAB is at her strongest – refreshingly vulnerable with her revelations, but still retaining her rebellious attitude. Lyrically, ‘If Only’ is littered with hetero-normative paraphernalia, culminating in the realisation that you can’t rely on someone else to be the foundation of your happiness. On ‘Gemini’, she filters the pain of unrequited love through an astrological lens, combining catchy riffs with her bittersweet lyrics to work through her mixed feelings.

On Word Of Mouth, BLAB cuts through barbed emotional moments, softens unsettling realisations and firmly communicates her anti-establishment, anti-ego message. “I’m not even really consciously trying to do anything,” BLAB comments about her EP, “I’m just doing what I want, writing what I love and talking about my life.” This approach to song-writing reaffirms the narratives of independence within her music, and we can’t wait to hear more of it in the near future.

Listen to Word Of Mouth below.

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Photo Credit: James Mannion

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut