As the sun set over Edinburgh Castle, Tommy Lefroy slipped into Assai Records for a tender evening show. The indie-rock duo, Wynter Bethel and Tessa Mouzourakis, return this October with The Precariat — an emotionally charged debut album that reflects on the turbulence and volatility of modern life.
Their lyrics are a microcosm of the anxiety felt by a generation navigating an increasingly insecure world of financial and political instability. The title combines “precarious” and “proletariat,” describing those who face economic hardship with no predictable end. Released in the wake of a two-year hiatus from performing, this album finds solace in the community the duo have built around their music.
That sentiment came to life in a cosy, stripped-back set, with the pair powering their bare-boned melodies with just two guitars. Their chemistry was palpable as they joked about the train delays and nervous tuning, embracing their mistakes and thanking the audience for participating in a “very human event.”
Given the album’s subject matter, that comment on humanity is intertwined with a criticism of artificial intelligence, technofascism, and their collective threat to the creative arts. Politically aware and literary-inspired, The Precariat’s poetic precision and raw vulnerability act as a beacon of resistance against the bleak circumstances fuelling today’s apathy and alienation.
The setting was appropriately stark and intimate, with the band lit by a single bulb hanging from an ornate ceiling rose. Cocooned between the shelves of records and the stage, the crowd watched in wrapped anticipation as the pair opened with the yet-to-be-released song ‘All Things Forgiven.’ The melancholic track bathed the room in wistful harmonies, setting the stage for an emotionally resonant set.
Wearing over-ear headphones and swaying slightly, the duo was bewitching in their softly sung melodies and wispy notes. The second song, ‘Thief’ had a punchier soft-rock feel, meditating on the grief of investing emotionally in a lost cause. Moving from new friends to old, Tommy Lefroy also played ‘God Made Michigan,’ a gloomier track about heartache, severed bonds and betrayal. It is one of the many songs reflecting on uneasy ties to home. Yet, their latest single ‘Vacuum’ leaves some room for optimism by finding home in someone else. A testament to the pair’s friendship, it explores the whirlwind of discovering connection at a time of all-encompassing isolation. Bethel and Mouzourakis looked affectionately at each other as they sang “I had nothing, then I found you.” ‘Threat,’ which the band describe as their most vulnerable song, peppers in similar hope, reassuring listeners and themselves to “Just let good things happen.”
The most heart-wrenching moment followed in ‘Anomie.’ Described by Bethel as the “hopeless passivity bred from despair,” the song adopts Durkheim’s term to explore the burnout of witnessing global injustice and being helpless to interfere. As the repetitive chorus of “we all know the death toll” pierced the room, it was impossible not to be moved by the emotion reverberating in their voices. The title track “The Precariat” closed the show, powerfully channelling the raw energy and frustration at the false promises of nostalgia. Leaving the room breathless, the duo stayed behind to speak to fans and sign posters —urging us all to ‘Save the Precariat.’
Photography by Jenny Krasic.
