Album Review: Last Dinosaurs – Wellness
2 min read
With experience garnered from international tours and the opportunity to take their previous album out into the world, Last Dinosaurs come to their second record with a refined musical and emotional maturity. Wellness is the product of that growth as a band and also the expert guidance of producer Scott Horscroft (Silverchair/Empire Of the Sun). With a clearer vision of what they wanted to do with this release, Horscroft seems to have been the perfect fit to realise the young band’s ambitions.
A self-confessed “cooler” record, Last Dinosaurs embraced the seaside nonchalance of The Grove studio where they spent two months recording Wellness. Shimmering indie pop tempered by a dreamier feel, the album takes palpable inspiration from chillwave artists like Toro Y Moi which weights Last Dinosaurs’ youthful energy. Shimmering synths flood the tracks, and smooth electric guitar plays over like sunshine on water. A tropical intro to opening track Take Your Time sets the tone for a summery feel, continuing in warm dance floor beats on Karma and Purist.
Lyrically, Wellness truly expresses a sense of coming of age. Touching on personal themes from singer Sean Caskey, whose resonating vocals muse on hopeless love, brief encounters and naive optimism. Subtle emotional jerks lie in Caskey’s lyrics, that read like letters to troubled lovers. Hitting hardest on Always with the line “you need to fix yourself”, but still couched in indie dance riffs and a pacific island guitar line. Soul searching is at the forefront of this release, just minus the angst that would drain the energy of Last Dinosaurs’ vitality.
Wellness is a light touch of deep feeling, and a sparkling insight into a young band finding their feet off the back of their first success. And it is one that is likely to carry Last Dinosaurs through the next stage of their evolution, with so much vibrancy it seems doubtful that this band are headed for extinction any time soon.
