Behind The Album: Lips Speak Louder's Consolation Prize

04-25-2025

Nashville- Based Alt-rock duo Lips Speak Louder just released their debut album "Consolation Prize" and to celebrate we asked Rachel Brandsness and Angie Lese to tell us about the tracks on the record. Here they are:

Hype: Hype is a throwback of sorts to the rock and grunge styles of the 90s and early 2000s that helped shape us as musicians. The song unapologetically calls out and confronts the inauthenticity of those who sell themselves for their own gain, whether it's social, financial or political.

Loser: Loser was the very last song written for the album just a handful of weeks before we went into the studio. It's a song about burnout and the frustration that comes with growing up and realizing that you can try your hardest and it won't always be enough. It's one of our favorite songs that we play live because it's just so fun and so cathartic.

Lose My Head ft. Emily Wolfe: Lose My Head captures the spiraling that can come with trying to make sense of an increasingly chaotic and anxiety-inducing world and was inspired by the way it can feel reading the news at any given time. It's a catchy, dance-style song with honest, vulnerable lyrics that delivers the sense of a constant barrage of chaos, while Emily Wolfe's searing guitar contributions take the song to an even more riotous level.

Crush: We are both huge fans of indie rock and indie dance music from the early 2000s and we definitely leaned into that a bit on this one. With those driving guitars and the fast-paced rhythm, Crush is a fun, feel-good song that delivers the same kind of jolt to your system that comes with realizing everything aligned just right when you found your person.

Dog Days of Summer: Dog Days of Summer is a deeply cathartic track, and one of our favorites to play live. It's about that feeling of realizing you've spent your whole life trying not to rock the boat, trying to be what everyone else expected of you and making yourself small to not upset the status quo. It's about finally hitting a breaking point and realizing that you didn't want to live that way anymore, which is felt through Rach's compelling vocal performance. It's a feeling that so many of us quietly deal with in solitude, especially women, who are so often taught to not make waves or take up too much space.

Spooky Girl: Spooky Girl is a song about walking the line between carnal fascination and hedonism. The opening guitar riff, soaked in fuzz, dictated the direction of the song, which paved the path for the aggressive drums and created the perfect tonal landscape for the lyrics. When we pictured the backdrop of Spooky Girl, we envisioned the chase, or cat-and-mouse situation in a dark club with lots of stimulation, sexiness, and eagerness. We wanted the music to mimic that driving force, so by design the song goes hard and doesn't let up.

Staring at the Sun: Staring at the Sun is a sarcastic, punk rocker about wanting something that you know is bad for you. It's a fun, whirlwind of a song that hits hard and calls out toxicity and was inspired by the early 2000s energy of Green Day and the Foo Fighters.

Runaway: Runaway is about feeling stuck and wrestling with the idea of change and the unknown vs. settling for the status quo even though it has begun to feel suffocating. It's about the desire to leave one's comfort zone in the hope and search of something better. It's inspired by classic 2010s rock such as The Gaslight Anthem and The War on Drugs. The arrangement is notable because the song starts with a very stripped down feel giving the listener an intimate experience with the lyrics and ends at full volume sonic catharsis.

Never Felt So Fine: Never Felt So Fine is a gritty, fuzz-soaked middle finger about how good it feels to shed someone that isn't bringing anything positive into your life. We wanted this track to be snarky and full of attitude, both vocally and instrumentally with the snarling guitars and pounding drums.

Handle With Care: Handle With Care is a tongue-and-cheek, indie rocker calling out that one person that always took you for granted. This one is especially fun to play with the upbeat chorus paired with Rach's sarcastic, cheeky lyrics as well as the cool instrumental breakdown near the end that highlights Angie's drums.

Stream the album below (or via your favorite service here) and learn more about the group here.