E Y E W E A R, THE BLOG BY TODD SWIFT

Eyewear is very glad to publish online a new poem by our sometime music critic,Lydia Bowden; the poem's youthful amourous theme very much suits the summer as it sort of develops, here, in London, from overcast and muggy to some sun poking through. 

Eyewear's Music Critic Lydia Bowden On Lianne La Havas
I can’t have an ice-cream without thinking about Lianne La Havas. Why? Because I swear she sings that instead of ‘I scream’ in her debut single ‘Is Your Love Big Enough?’- and of course it isn’t ice-cream- but La Havas’ voice sounds so much like flowing caramel, if there was such a thing, so I guess that connotation with ice-cream is fair enough on my part.
Seriously though, this girl’s voice is deliciously smooth. Not only that, but even the music sounds just as sweet. Insisting on playing her own highly strapped guitar, La Havas gives off this dreamlike effect through her music with random scales on guitar and experimental notes with her husky voice.

A Londoner- part Greek, part Jamaican- and yet another artist having emerged from Later…with Jools Holland, La Havas is something like Corinne Bailey Rae, but it’s something much more refreshing , something a little more honest and stylish from this young 22 year old.
It’s this …

Our music critic Lydia Bowden on Jessie Ware



Dubbed the new Katy B, may I introduce to you Jessie Ware - a brand new artist that I think is in a whole league of her own.
It seems Jessie has been floating around for about two years, lending her vocals to other artists like SBTRKT and Jack Peñate; she even released an EP in 2010 that completely flew over my head called Nervous. At that point she was turning heads about 90 degrees, not quite 180 yet, but now our heads have gone full circle.
Jessie has been releasing little tasters for quite a while now, hinting that her first debut album is going to be a work of genius and come at us all with force. Singles ‘Running’ and a personal favourite ‘110%’ are full of soulful and chilled whispers, and it’s clear that from working with DJ Joker, a subtle dub-step beat has slipped its way into her music which gives it a need to be listened to.
She calls Diana Ross and Chaka Khan her inspiration, which explains that 80’s vibe in ‘Running’. Her most re…

Lydia Bowden, Eyewear's Music Critic, focuses in on Alt-J
Indie? Electro-geek pop? I don’t know, I just made that up. Alt-J don’t want a genre, nor do they want to be labelled or compared to any other band out there- they are completely unique.
I don’t know where to begin if I’m honest. I was looking through my Facebook only a month ago and I came across a link my fellow music obsessive friend had posted on my wall. It was a song called ‘Breezeblocks’ and I thought: oh here we go, another group of guys stamping their feet and whining into the microphone- how very wrong I was. Before I mention what I heard, I need to point out the visual. This is of course the video I’m talking about; A fight between a man and woman rewound so the ending is ultimately the beginning. It’s action packed, it’s fast and it’s like a short drama unfolding in front of you, but then you hear the music- the smooth vocals of front man Joe Newman playing over the top of it, turning the whole package into an …

Lydia Bowden, Eyewear's current music critic, checks out the second Best Coast album
Summer: beer in hand and a small group of friends with BestCoast’s brand new album The Only Place playing in the background- it’s where it belongs.
Having been influenced by The Beach Boys, duo Bobb Bruno and Bethany Cosentino had something to build upon, and you sure can hear this in their second album. However this better produced set of songs wasn’t what the band had originally been going for. Their debut ‘Crazy for You’ has a much –how can I put this? - Dirtier, feel to it, with less of that sharp, nipped and tucked sound you hear in ‘The Only Place’.
This was all with the help of producer Jon Brion, who has worked with some big names like Keane and Kanye West- to name a few. With his help, BestCoast were sure to create such a great album.
With their clever play on words in the title, its obvious the duo love all things West Coast- I’ll let you work that one out- and you can hear it in the music…