A Review Of “A Beautiful Blur” By LANY
By Caleb Palmer
On September 29th, LANY’s newest project, A Beautiful Blur, had its initial release. Hot off the tails of their Summer Forever and A November To Remember tours, LANY has been quite active in the last few years. LANY’s sound has historically been a synthy and dreamy LA pop persuasion; however, in the last album, GGBBXX, and with single releases, such as Congrats, their sound is trending towards pop rock with more punchy drum lines and electric guitar riffs.
This change in tonality is a surprise but is also due in part to working with producer Ryan Tedder and also due in part to the band’s change in direction. On April 6, 2022, Charlie “Les” Priest announced on Instagram that he would be leaving the band. Priest says in his departure caption, “There is a time and place for everything. Now is the time for a new chapter. I’m parting ways to invest more fully in other areas in my life.” This leaves the Los Angeles-based band down one founding member and has left the responsibilities on frontman, Paul Klein, and supporting drummer, Jake Goss.
Paul undoubtedly is creative. Playing major roles in the design and development of merchandising, album art, and more, he constantly finds new ways to bring the band’s persona to life. This has been a talking point in the LANY community due to the recent last-minute and unexpected change of the upcoming album art and title. The new album was originally titled, I Really Really Hope So, and had featured a portrait of the two bandmates as the album cover; however, the updated name and title seem to have little to do with that. The new title, A Beautiful Blur, features a new minimalistic cover designed by Paul. There is speculation whether this new design plays more narrative to the content of the album.
The five pre-released singles for the album including, “XXL”, “Home Is Where The Hurt Is”, “Love At First Fight”, and “Alonica” all have similar feelings of longing, regret, and progress. This sets the tone for the album to have the classic LANY bittersweet love-and-heartbreak feel brought in part by emotional lyrics, thoughtful melodies, and carefully selected instruments.
The album may be full of new content, sound, and direction from the band, however, at its core, is still a LANY record. With lyrics reminiscent of former albums such as Mama’s Boy and their self-titled LANY, A Beautiful Blur feels familiar in a lot of ways. Whether you like that or not is up to you, however, the departure of their old sound could have also been accompanied by the departure of their old lyrical content.
It wouldn’t be a LANY record without one or two ballads brought to you by Paul to add to a playlist for a significant other. The picks for that category from this album would be “No” and “Out Of My League.” This means for Paul that this recurring pattern has set the tone for future records going forward, intentional or not.
It also would not be a LANY record without songs that can find a home on a breakup playlist. The choice is clear here for those, that being “Congrats”, “‘Cause You Have To”, and “(Saturday Night) 3:22 AM.” Another pattern set for Klein and co. that leaves fans with clear expectations.
Overall, there is something for everybody here whether that is a new LANY listener or a seasoned veteran of their fanbase. That is due in part to its familiarity. It would be conducive to a band’s growth to accept new challenges and find more ways to keep their ever-growing catalog a mixed bag in all aspects. In terms of their best, it is not. Although, there is something to be enjoyed in everything and this album still has a lot of content. A Beautiful Blur is an album worth listening to, although, it may not have as much staying power as their earlier work as a band. So, while it is a project that was birthed from hard work and talent if you were to want to get into LANY, I would suggest starting with their earlier works. That being said, any LANY fan, new or old, will find this record to be exceptionally produced, thought-out, and resonating.
Listen with an open mind, and see for yourself. A Beautiful Blur by LANY is out now on all streaming platforms.
