Beta Pan by Lawne

Formed in 2019, Lawne is the result of a meeting of minds between old friends and self confessed music nerds Joe Nicklin and Joe Martin. Their sound draws upon myriad influences with dub, electronics, hip hop, psych, jazz, post-punk and Afrobeat all somehow ingrained within the mix. Comparisons to Mildlife, Nu Genea, Harvey Sutherland and Khruangbin wouldn’t be far off the mark, but such contemporaries form only part of the duo’s sonic soundscape as Fela Kuti, The Beach Boys and Herbie Hancock also weigh heavy on their repertoire, as Joe Nicklin explains:

“I had been working mainly as a live session drummer for a few years and missed being able to get my teeth into a project of my own, collaborating and building something that reflects my influences from the ground up. I knew Joe (Martin) a bit from home in North Oxfordshire but we reconnected after both moving to London and decided to start sending ideas back and forth shortly after. Originally we set out to make dance music with live instrumentation, but a shared love of psychedelic, jazz-funk and hip hop eventually saw our music also reflect these styles.”

Joe Martin goes on, “I’d been engaged on a solo electronic project for a few years but soon began to miss working collaboratively and writing music with instruments rather than creating solely on a laptop. I knew Joe from home and when he asked if I wanted to get together to make some music, it seemed like the perfect time. We’ve spent the last couple of years exploring different sounds and trying our best to work outside of our comfort zone; listening to a wider range of material as well as incorporating that into our own music.”

Beta Pan, the debut single to be taken from the pair’s debut LP, due for release in 2024, is in many ways the perfect introduction to their sound, as Joe Martin continues -

“The two sections allowed us to essentially write two fairly different and distinct pieces of music; the four to the floor, Fela-inspired groove of the outro is quite a departure from the trippy, dubby feel of the intro that comes before it, but I find that shift in feel really satisfying. As always, Joe’s vocals took it to another level, once those were sitting in the mix nicely - it felt totally complete. It’s a favourite of mine from the album for sure.”

Joe Martin goes further to explain exactly how Beta Pan came about, “We went through a phase of writing tunes with really separated A/B sections. This concept is all over the album and Beta Pan is a good example. The lyrics came from a really frustrating day of moving my canal boat where I live. I thought after such a long search I’d finally found a place to moor, only to find a sign saying ‘Keep clear, regatta this weekend’. I started running down the towpath, at my wits end to try and find another spot. Joe had come up with this melody a few days before and it had been stuck in my head since, so whilst running along I started singing it but with the words ‘The feeling you’ve got it, down on the water, got a regatta tomorrow.’”

Beta Pan is not the duo’s first musical outing together, with the gorgeous Tina being released on Wah Wah 45s’ sister label Allison Recordings back in 2021 and receiving love and praise from Huey Morgan on BBC 6 Music, as well as support on Jazz FM, Worldwide FM and Universal Rhythms.

Lawne’s debut album will be released in 2024 on Wah Wah 45s.