A visceral experience written in the wake of heartbreak and lost love, lotusbliss’ “Carpet” embodies the raw loneliness and rumination of emotional hardship. It’s a perfect way to introduce these dark, ambient newcomers.
Stream: “Carpet” – lotusbliss
To say there isn’t a dark cloud hanging over lotusbliss’ “Carpet” would be an understatement: Written in the wake of heartbreak and lost love, the song embodies the raw loneliness and rumination of emotional hardship – yet that doesn’t stop it from being a visceral experience full of highs and lows, ups and downs; in fact, it’s that depth that makes “Carpet” all the more exciting to hear, watch, and feel.
Heart in mouth, you say yours is prone to alter
Every syllable breaking my utopia
With the pieces laid out upon the carpet
I’m a fool to have thought it could be simple
Now my circle and stone’s a tragic symbol
In my hand as I sink into the carpet
Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering the music video for “Carpet,” lotusbliss’ second single taken off their debut EP A Good Death Is a Beautiful Thing (independently released February 21, 2020). Hailing from Kent, UK, lotusbliss is the musical recording project of brothers Seth, Josh, and Adam Gauton. Formed in 2018 and introducing themselves only in late November of 2019, the trio attack their songs with nuance and emotion. injective waves of indie rock warmth that wash over the ears. Produced by Anteros’ Josh Rumble, the band’s EP is a haunting four-track introduction that clearly exhibits their promise and potential.
The record’s second track, “Carpet” has taken off as a definitive highlight, radiating old-school alternative vibes with its dark ambient guitar work and pulsing beats. Tension builds into a chorus outpouring that’s as fun to dance to, as it is to shout:
Why’d you leave me here this way?
Crumbling into the waves
Take me back to where we were
Or give me anaesthetic to dull this hurt
“‘Carpet’ is a song about the moment just after you’ve been walked out on by the person you love,” lotusbliss tell Atwood Magazine. “It’s based on a time a couple of years back where, with an engagement ring concealed in my pocket, my girlfriend told me she thought it could be good to go on a break. Fortunately for me we worked it all out, but I have looked back at that moment a number of times and thought ’this could have gone completely the other way’ – and this song is about what it would have been like if it did.”
A song that builds throughout, “Carpet” only reaches its apex at the very end, when lotusbliss come together in a mighty harmony-laden chorus backed by dazzling synths and glimmering guitars. It’s that long, progressive two-plus minute build that makes this sonic and emotive overhaul so meaningful – the time they took to get there lends it that extra weight, a quality that is echoed in the group’s cinematic visual, directed by the band’s own Josh Gauton.
All my thoughts running wild, could I have changed this
Where’s the hollywood ending, oh it vanished
Now I’m falling asleep here on the carpet
Why’d you leave me here this way?
Crumbling into the waves
Take me back to where we were
Or give me anaesthetic to dull this hurt
“With the video, we wanted to make something that encapsulates that inescapable feeling of dread, the ‘heart in mouth’ moment and tightening grip of panic as you realize someone you care very deeply about is pulling, or even breaking, away in the opposite direction,” lotusbliss explain. “Doing it through the narrative of an abduction felt like a good way of getting those emotions across. People affectionately talk about a lover ‘capturing their heart’ and I guess you could flip that round to say your emotional state is held captive to the person you love; sounds intense and perhaps a slightly pessimistic view on relationships but in this case the concept felt like an appropriate allegory to accompany the song.”
lotusbliss continue, “We shot and produced the whole thing ourselves, asking a couple of friends and family to man the camera for scenes we were all in, and generally had a good time filming it in a few spots around the Kentish countryside where we grew up. I think Adam and Seth particularly enjoyed it as they got to vent all their general-background-sibling anger towards me in scenes where they ‘pretended’ to beat me up, but an unusually high number of their fake punches seemed to make contact.”
What could have happened?
Where would we be if you’d have followed me on?
I’m seeking solace
But I’m so fixed on
What could have happened?
Where would we be if you’d have followed me on?
I’m seeking solace
But I’m so fixed on you
Yes, it’s a little hard to watch this video – but lotusbliss effectively get their point across with little narrative disruption. In the film, we watch an abduction and attempted slaying occur in the dead of night. It’s a dangerous, frightening, and vivid portrayal: As the band are reaching their musical peak, the abductee makes his escape into a bleak, pitch-black forest: And so leaves that focal point of desire and attention, doting and care, running out of our world and escaping into the unknown.
“Carpet” is dark, but it’s unmistakably gripping. Stream the video exclusively on Atwood Magazine!
Why’d you leave me here this way?
Crumbling into the waves
Take me back to where we were
Or give me anaesthetic to dull this hurt
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Stream: “Carpet” – lotusbliss
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