It’s been a while since we heard from Leeds band Treeboy & Arc, but they’re back and ready to shake off the lockdown blues with a new EP called Life Preserver, which is arriving on August 6. Today they’re sharing the opening track, “Role Models”, with guitarist and vocalist Ben Morgan saying:
“The lyrics were written deep in the heart of a very warm lockdown, in a difficult time where many, including myself, spent a lot of time alone. Resorting to mindless television and junk food rather than exercise and vegetables, contemplating my own anxieties, work aspirations, happiness and what was going to happen next.
“The general message of the song is that no matter what your aspirations are and whether you have achieved them or not, happiness can come in many forms. Not least of all being sat down on the sofa with the sun shining through the windows, sticking on the football or Coronation Street, shutting your brain off and just being content to exist.”
With a janglier take on post-punk and a conversational tone, it’s easy to get on board with this personable and smirk-inducing track. We begin as “the sun shines down on quiet suburbia”, but our protagonist isn’t out in the warmth – he’s inside eating frozen chips, drinking coca cola and binge-watching TV – though if you ask him he’s “got the diet of a king, a saint, a scholar.” See, now matter how unhealthy – physically and mentally – his lifestyle might seem, it’s not stopping him from dreaming of bigger things, and believing he’s on course to get there. Making a comeback like Jesus, splitting the sea like Moses, becoming a national treasure like David Attenborough or Bob Mortimer – they’re all easily achievable in the world of Treeboy & Arc. It’s all rammed home in the winning chorus, “how hard can it be?” Here we have an anthem for the unmotivated, a pep talk for the perpetually prostrate, a fire starter for the fame hungry – and just a damn catchy song.
Listen to “Role Models” on streaming platforms or below.
Treeboy & Arc’s Life Preserver EP comes out on August 6, and they’ve also got these live dates coming up:
Thursday 5th August – Leeds, Brudenell (EP Launch)
Friday 6th August – Bristol, The Lanes
Saturday 7th August – London, The Shacklewell Arms
Saturday 18th September – Leicester (Wide Eyed Festival)
Saturday 25th September – Wakefield (Long Division Festival)
Sunday 26th September – Manchester, YES (So Young x Now Wave)
Saturday 23rd October – York, The Crescent (A Slow Education Festival)
You can find the band on Bandcamp, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
