Lemons is the recording project of Stefan Rehr, who grew up in Connecticut but formed the project after moving to LA. Abandoning the drumming that was his introduction to making music out of consideration for his neighbours in his apartment building, Rehr took up guitar and began writing songs that borrowed from jazz, 50s and 60s surf rock and the shoegaze-shaded sound of contemporary Californian indie rock.
The first Lemons single, ‘Clover Girl’, was a sweet and swaying slice of indie pop, and follow-up ‘Nothing 2 Say’ confirms it was no fluke. While the first single was self-released, Lemons has teamed up with Baby Blue to put out their second single, and the sound slots perfectly into the label’s cohort.
Unfurling in an easy jangle, the song is equal parts misty-eyed throwback and slick contemporary bedroom pop, evoking an archetypal sun-drunk image of sunny California. Some of the credit for this should go to producer and engineer Zach Carlson, who “encouraged Rehr to reframe the work as less of an insular songwriting exercise and more as a bedroom project,” resulting in a tight, uptempo song that nevertheless maintains a fuzzily wistful edge.
The result is picture postcard heartbreak, where dappled light and saltwater can do nothing but add a romantic air to the longing. Still, the feeling loses none of its immediacy in this environment. “It’s more than that I’m afraid,” Rehr admits. “I am not okay, I won’t lie / There’s nothing left to say.”
‘Nothing 2 Say’ is out today via Baby Blue.