In Earnest: Chinnerys, Southend

Southend’s In Earnest played their first headline gig at their iconic hometown (city) venue of Chinnerys last week.

Images courtesy of Rob Humm & the band.

October the 9th marked their release of their stunning EP ‘Reasons to Stay Alive’. A seamless piece of music that delves into the struggles of mental health in relationships. Not content with the challenge of recording the EP, of challenging discourse, in this fashion, their creative chops were again at full capacity. Playing the EP fully with seamless transitions was a joy to watch. Whilst physically, it may have looked frantic at points but, the guitar and pedal switches were delivered with aplomb. It added a bigger sense of drama to already tumultuous tracks like ‘I Feel Alone Even If I’m Not’ and ‘Hands Are Tied’.

They come as a collective but, it’s Sarah Holbourn’s voice are that people leave talking about. The harrowing lyrics are met with heaven-sent vocals to forge the most intimate of bonds with the Southend crowd. On ‘Put Me Under’, she drifts from Laura Marling to Phoebe Bridgers whilst songwriting partner Thomas Eatherton’s guitars shimmer with Bon Iver’s majesty.

Eatherton’s guitars, eloquent throughout, stack up to Holbourn’s beauty on several occasions. Whether it be the Ryan Adams-tinged ‘29’, the Cocteau Twins dreaminess of ‘Fables’, or the dreampop meets Billy Bragg, he has an ability to know when to let things breathe around him.

With another show at The Amersham Arms tomorrow and a film launch with Rooskin’s Rob Humm to supplement the EP in November, this is a band with serious creative chops that should not be missed.

In Earnest - Reasons To Stay Alive

Southend’s In Earnest is back with a new EP ‘Reasons To Stay Alive’. Released on the 8th of October, it follows their fine self-titled EP back from 2020. Can the new release stack up to its formers emotive power?

Images and artwork courtesy of the band.

The EP comes in a seamless form, the band’s effort to reflect the cyclical nature of the time period it was recorded in and, the difficulties of breaking free from living with mental illness. Musically, it is leagues ahead of the debut.; The strings and the guitar licks have a broader appeal which, when the lyrics get personal, is a welcomed offset.

Suicide attempts shouldn’t come wrapped in such packages like ‘Days In Between’. Such is the astonishing beauty of their Laura Marling meets Phoebe Bridgers sonic. This tale, built on the premise of what would have been missed, has the same pin drop ability of a ‘Songbird’. The anguish of Sarah Holbourn singing the line ‘seeing my mother's pain’ is almost too much to bear.

On ‘Welcome to Hope County’, co-writer and guitarist Thomas Eatherton offers up his struggle to come to terms with their relationship. The ability to be this honest, with your partner in the band, knowing the anxiety that could come with it is remarkable. Eatherton, sings with such humble heartfelt honesty alongside Bill Bragg guitars and folk orchestration, it will leave you hollow. It is though, in the closing moments this song’s genius lies. Akin to Noah & The Whale’s ‘Blue Skies’, the injection of pace offers a chink of light. The guitars glisten and the strings have a spring-like quality. Then Eatherton bellows ‘my head is in my hands again / there are reasons to stay alive’ and they bring the cyclical nature of mental torment and this EP crashing home.   

The subject matter has been crucial to the band to date. However, on ‘I Feel Alone Even If I’m Not’ and ‘Hands Are’, their musicality has broadened to match the eloquence of their lyrics. The former taps into folk classicism to create an icy tinged folk gem. Meanwhile, on ‘Hands Are Tied’, they harness bath style and substance exquisitely. Smoky guitar licks sitting between Billy Bragg and Richard Hawley gently paint landscapes of woe before the song explodes into life.

As music lovers, we’re all guilty of escapism. Whether it be a forlorn Marr riff, a raging Frank Turner couplet, or a wayward wobble of an Orbital synth, there’s a place to reside in for hope and rebellion. With this EP, In Earnest has shown another way. They’ve turned themselves inside out for the world to see. In doing so, they have brought about a different kind of inclusion. When Holbourn confesses ‘I’m taking my pills, doing my time / pour my heart out in a song / the only thing I know is I don't think I can go on’, she emboldens the view that, it’s ok to not be ok.

 This band and EP deserve your respect if nothing else. They are a triumph of the human spirit. This is the most selfless piece of art you will engage in of 2021.

You can hear the EP here.

In Earnest - In Earnest

Southend’s In Earnest has been making a name for themselves in 2020 with enlightening tales of mental illness. They recently self-released their eponymous debut EP, can they continue to push the boundaries?

The three-piece centre around the songwriting partnership (and couple) of Sarah Holburn and Thomas Eatherton. They’re a band with a purpose, that purpose being to open a dialogue around mental health and, in former singles ‘Put Me Under’ and ‘Come Upstairs’, they do just that.

‘Put Me Under’ focuses on Holburn’s chronic anxiety and depression, conditions that prevent her from holding down regular jobs. She goes a long way to paint the perspective of anxiety sufferers. The awareness of what should but can’t be done builds a tension full of integrity. The isolation she suffers Is captured hauntingly with the line ‘You are everywhere and nowhere / just don’t put me under your spell’.

Meanwhile, ‘Come Upstairs’ follows Eatherton’s struggles to cope in the relationship. Eatherton depicts himself as ‘woefully unprepared” which leads him to the despair of “there is a war in every silence’.  Despite inner torment, he manages to conjure a Smiths-esque moment of beauty amid the darkness to enrich the soul:

“We could both lock lips / On this sinking ship, watch it all go down / We could seal our fate / On a frozen lake, and just drown”

Their lyrics are so powerful that, It’s easy to overlook the music on offer. There is though, a rich tapestry to draw from. ‘29’ taps into Ryan Adams’ celestial guitar playing and the warmth of I Am Kloot. The nodes of Celtic folk bring King Creosote and Tom Williams to the fore. Dear Father Christmas, please put In Earnest In a studio with Guy Garvey and let them carve out aching lullabies.

‘Come Upstairs’ showcases guitar player Toby Shaer’s love of Bon Iver and John Martyn. Holburn switches up her vocals from the angelic Julien Baker (‘Put Me Under’) and the rousing Laura Marling-esque ‘Fables’. On ‘Fables’, they drift effortlessly into the ethereal territory of Cocteau Twins. They are a band with an arsenal of ethereal weapons.  

In Earnest have the songs, they have the talent but, crucially, they have the one thing stadium selling artists can spend a lifetime grappling with. Truth. Their tracks read like diary entries and serve as thought-provoking pieces of art.  There’s no pretense and no overreaching for something miraculous. They don’t seek to light up the muddy river beds of Southend, rather, they have become part of the fabric of Southend with these robust but fragile tales.

In Earnest – Come Upstairs

Southend’s In Earnest are a alt-indie band who write about their experiences with mental health issues.

On their debut single (full review here), Sarah Holburn took vocal duties. It focused on her chronic anxiety and depression. This time round, band member and partner Thomas Eatherton takes the lead.

Eatherton details the difficulties of their relationship with an astonishing honesty. As he describes himself as “woefully unprepared”, desperation floods the senses. He goes on to crush your soul with the line “there is a war in every silence” and then break your heart with “no relief to heal the shame…….no proof that exists”.

Despite this, they utilise cinematic and Celtic folk orchestration to build something sonically rousing. This is coupled with the darkest but most romantic lyrics since The Smiths:

“And if a double-decker bus / Crashes into us / To die by your side / Is such a heavenly way to die”

Eathernet tops this with:

“We could both lock lips / On this sinking ship, watch it all go down / We could seal our fate / On a frozen lake, and just drown”

In a world where mental health services are chronically underfunded, their ability to produce great art from their own turmoil is a triumph of the human spirit.