Wet Leg Don’t Hesitate to Fall Under the Dizzying Spell of Romance in ‘moisturizer'
If anyone has ever said romance isn’t rock and roll, or rock and roll can’t be romantic, then they have been sadly mistaken. After a whirlwind rise to fame with hit songs “Wet Dream” and “Chaise Lounge” and their critically acclaimed self-titled debut album that followed, Wet Leg welcomes us back to a grungier, sexier, and brilliantly chaotic world full of passionate declarations of love and romantic secrets only shared between the closest of friends. With their sophomore album moisturizer, band front women Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers combine femininity and visual elements of girlhood like bright colors and frilly clothing in their music videos with heavy rock and roll elements and daring lyrics that create an explosive dynamic, pushing the invisible boundaries that society places around female musicians.
Moisturizer demonstrates Wet Leg’s courage to experiment and try new techniques, rather than sitting with what is comfortable and expected. The band introduces more storytelling throughout each song to build cohesive themes of love and staying true to who you are, no matter what, all while daring to experiment with their own sound and traditional rock and roll elements. In a world that often feels repetitive, with so many social media algorithms and endless streams of content to consume, artists who push themselves and reach for the stars are refreshing and restore my faith in creativity.
Photo by Alice Backham.
“CPR” throws the listener head-first into an ocean of emotion. The song captures the first feelings of a new crush: the butterflies that fly around in your stomach, making you giddy and on the brink of throwing up all at once, the inexplicable urge to dance at any given moment, but also cry in the shower until you forget what it is you were upset about. That new-crush feeling is often accompanied by a lingering doubt, hanging in the background like a shadow. At first, you have to look over your shoulder every few seconds to make sure it won’t consume you: “I tied a rope around my waist / I tend to get lost in your eyes / I took a breath, jumped off the cliff / Because you told me to / Is it love or suicide? / Is it love or suicide? / Is it love or suicide? / Is it love?” The following track, “liquidize,” is dizzying and grungy, like an early 2000s song an underground band might play in their parents' garage or basement. A striped back guitar and pattering drum instrumental that runs in the background accompanies lyrics of self-doubt and vulnerability: “It’s not like me / To fall head over heels / I melt for you, I liquidize / I want you to want me all the time / You say I'm lovely / And you say I'm worth it al / I look you dead between the eyes / I say, ‘I know you are, but what am I?’” The chorus solidifies this feeling further as we dig deeper into a relationship, but still carry doubts about ourselves, as if the world is playing a joke on us: “So many creatures in the fucking world / How could I be your one? / Be your marshmallow worm? / So many creatures and now it's just you / How did I get so lucky to be loving you?”
“davina mccall” is a feathery light pillow; a pristine cloud floating in a blue sky, reflecting the comfort we finally find when our self-doubt melts away and we can finally be ourselves with the person we love. We aren’t in love yet, but we can feel ourselves falling: “Dream about us taking holidays together / We won't even care if we get shitty weather / Oh-oh, 'cause you're like the sun / Days turn to months and months into years / We’re growing with the pain, we dry each other's tears / You know, you're my sweet baby angel.” “pond song” represents the first time you say I love you. Nerves churn with excitement, so you aren’t sure exactly what you’re feeling. But you know there will always be a pit in your stomach if you leave it unsaid: “When I dipped my dogs into the pond of your mind, I finally found God / When she made you, she was making art / You’re so cool, you're so smart / You’re so sweet even when you're sour / I’m thinking 'bout you every minute, every hour / So sweet even when you're sour / You’re the sun and I'm a flower.” While this declaration of love is not direct, and the actual words come in the chorus, the fairytale-like comparisons speak for themselves.
“davina mccall” Official Music Video, directed by Chris Hopewell.
“don’t speak” brings the album closer to its original starting point, with more grungy guitar riffs and airy and whimsical vocals that combine to create a distinctly '90s and early 2000s sound, like something out of “10 Things I Hate About You.” A spinning and romantic guitar solo mimics the bewitching and nostalgic sounds of classic 90s love songs such as “Kiss Me” by Sixpence None The Richer and “Friday I’m in Love” by The Cure. However, the lyrics are unique to Wet Leg and bring home the theme of embracing love: “'Cause you're the rock to my roll / You’re the sand between my toes / Sweet baby girl, we go like salsa and Doritos / Don’t you know? I'm your biggest fan / I’m gonna love you good and burden the bad / If you can, if you can.”
“catch these fists” will surely become a favorite among listeners for its upbeat rhythm and cheeky, witty, and at times mischievous lyrics. Wet Leg embodies a playful, youthful abandon with candy-sweet vocals and lyrics as sharp as a knife: “He don't get puss, he get the boot / I saw him sipping on dark fruit / This always happens late at night / Some guy comes up, says I'm his type / I just threw up in my mouth / When he just tried to ask me out / Yeah, don't approach me / I just wanna dance with my friends.” “mangetout” expresses a similar attitude with sassy vocals and lyrics that evolve as the song progresses: “You think I'm pretty, you think I'm pretty cruel / You say I scare you? I know most people do / This is the real world, honey, bienvenue / In spite of everything, I guess there's just no getting through / Nice try, now get out of the way / Good job, just take a fucking hint / I said I'll see ya, wouldn't wanna be ya / Wouldn’t wanna be ya-eh-ah-eh-ah-eh-ah.” In comparison to the first chorus, these lyrics represent the brutal realization that romance isn’t always a fantasy: “You think I'm pretty, you think I'm pretty cool / You wanna fuck me, I know most people do / Here, take this packet, you read it, it says, ‘Mangetout.’”
“catch these fists” Official Music Video directed by Wet Leg
Despite what the song’s title might lead you to expect, “jennifer’s body” is surprisingly sweet, but a satisfyingly messy combination of drums, electric guitar, and tambourine adds a grungy edge. “pokemon” represents wanting to protect a relationship while also wanting, almost needing, to give yourself over to love completely and let it take you for a rollercoaster ride before you combust. The lyrics race with instrumentals that won’t sit still and the vocals are hypnotic and ethereal in the chorus: “You wanna go for a drive? / I don't wanna take it slow / You wanna go for a drive? / Isle of Wright to Tokyo.” “pillow talk” is the culmination of the emotions expressed in the album so far, and is surely the band’s most risqué track in their discography, which says a lot from a band not afraid to lay everything out on the table: “At night, I go to sleep, and you're the only thing I dream about / When you tell a joke, you make me laugh like so maniacal / I can make you sticky, make you hot, screaming for after sun / I can make you beg, can make you wet like an aquarium.” The vocals are close, almost like a whisper, reflecting the intimacy of the lyrics, but the song explodes in the chorus with passionate vocals that become one with the heavy-metal sounding instrumentals.
Moisturizer concludes with “11:21” and “u and me at home,” tracks that ultimately prove the most important things in your life are the small moments you share with a loved one; the moments that often go overlooked, like sharing breakfast at home with a loved one or watching a movie together in bed. The album’s conclusion represents an acceptance that with the good comes the bad, and life is about balancing the two. While you can experience an amazing relationship, you can still experience hardships and sadness, but it is the loving relationships we carry that keep us going: “Sometimes, I get so sad / And my blue eyes fade to grey / You tell me it's not so bad / You always know just what to say.”
Be sure to give Wet Leg’s latest album a listen and lose yourself in a whimsical, romantic, and punchy world where you crush hard and live life to the fullest.
