Lord Jane have released their debut EP ‘Tulips’.
Out now, the EP is a collection of tracks that delves into themes of self realisation and inner evaluation, representing the band’s first collectively written release.
Speaking of the EP, the band said: “The literal thread running through each artwork thus far has woven its way through every release, leading to our debut EP. This EP ties it altogether, laying on the table honest themes in a colourful palette of music. From upbeat and disco to gritty, raw moments, each track reflects our process of understanding ourselves and the world around us.”
To celebrate their EP release, guitarist Sam Foote shared with us 5 tracks that influenced ‘Tulips’.
Enemies – Nag Champa
This is one of the first tracks that came to mind when we started working on ‘Tulips’. During the summer of 2020, this track was practically on repeat from sunrise to sunset, setting the mood for a time of intense creativity. It even pushed me to experiment more with intricate rhythms and layered textures in our writing. I was dabbling with different time signatures and trying to write pieces as hypnotic as this one. None of them quite made the cut, but the influence of that flowing groove can definitely be heard in some of the final tracks on the EP. The phrase ‘Nag Champa’, which refers to incense, became a kind of metaphor for me. A scent that lingers in the air and weaves its way into the mood of our EP sessions. ‘Harmonia’ is a great example of how we used this call and response styled guitar riffing, that enemies do so well.
Lianne La Havas – Paper Thin
I still remember the first time I heard this song, it stopped me in my tracks. I’d been a fan of Lianne La Havas for a while, but ‘Paper Thin’ hit me differently when I heard it on a late night radio show. It was the kind of track that made me take a step back from what I was doing, probably mucking around with some guitar riffs – and just listen. Lianne’s whole self-titled became a bit of a soundtrack for me while I was working on new material, especially when writing for Lord Jane. There’s something so delicate yet powerful about the song, and it influenced the way I approached some of the more stripped-back moments on the EP. There was this one late night session were I scrapped a whole batch of ideas because they just didn’t have that same emotional pull. In the end, none of what I wrote sounded like ‘Paper Thin’, but it definitely made me rethink how we connect to a song emotionally. Listening to the bridge section of ‘Tulips’, you can really feel a similar vibe.
TTNG – Pig
This one threw me down a rabbit hole of math-rock madness. ‘Pig’ is a brilliant example of how you can make something sound so complicated yet so infectious at the same time. While we were in the midst of writing Lord Jane, I was trying to figure out how to bring some of that intricate guitar work and playful unpredictability into our sound. I ended up down this TTNG wormhole, trying to mimic those sharp, angular riffs. Of course, none of my attempts were quite as technical or clean, but it did push us to add more rhythmic twists and turns into a couple of tracks. ‘It’s Been Too Long’, in particular, was practically built around a ‘Pig’-inspired riff. It’s funny because the final product sounds nothing like TTNG, but that initial inspiration is buried deep in the DNA of those songs. It’s like they became a guide for how far we could stretch our sound.
Wolf Alice – How Can I Make It Ok?
I can’t remember the last time a song gave me such a hit of pure euphoria as this one did. I stumbled across ‘How Can I Make It Ok?’ while in the midst of love on some curated playlist. It’s one of those tracks that feels so expansive, like it could fill any space. There was this one evening where we were trying to crack the chorus for ‘Tulips’, and I just couldn’t get the melody right. I put on the Wolf Alice track, and it kind of unlocked something. Suddenly, the notes just fell into place. It’s funny because now, when I listen back to the finished record, I can hear where some of that expansiveness crept into the production, little pockets of space and texture that I think were influenced by their lush sound.
King Krule – Dum Surfer
‘Dum Surfer’ was like a slap in the face when I first heard it. That sludgy, twisted groove became the backdrop to some of the weirder ideas I was playing around with during the Lord Jane writing sessions. There’s a rawness to it that we tried to channel into some of the darker moments on the EP. I remember this one day when I was stuck trying to write something that felt off-kilter but still catchy. I kept going back to ‘Dum Surfer’, trying to work out how King Krule manages to make something so grimy yet irresistible. In the end, I think it pushed me to be a bit more fearless with our sound—to embrace the odd, the strange, and the unsettling. Nothing we wrote ended up sounding remotely like King Krule, but there’s a certain swagger that we definitely borrowed for the final tracks, such as ‘I Did It To Myself’.
Listen to Lord Jane’s musical influences:
Stream ‘Tulips’ via Spotify: