A Killer New EP from Last Seen ALive

A recent EP release from Last Seen Alive brings out a fresh blend of what I would consider alternative rock, an approach that brings together color and edginess seamlessly all rolled up into a four-track release that hits with insanely inventive guitar work, and addictive energy, and songwriting that shows bits of diversity and a slew of influences the band takes on.

Is This What You Wanted? gives you some of the band's best Staples you'll hear throughout the record, right from the first track, "Somebody Else" which is a track that feels vast in its undertone and has a bit of a theatrical approach. The riffs and guitar work on this track alone are brilliant, and they add that flare to the track, along with the outstanding drumming that isn't just in the pocket, but more invigorating and giving the track the feeling of being alive and breathing.

I think that's a good description for this whole record. A lot of it feels alive. It sounds almost like some of these tracks were recorded live on the floor, and everyone involved was feeding off of each other's energies the entire time.

The approach to how they write their songs has a bit of a confluent undertone, and you can hear those edgy elements coming through in the guitars a lot of the time, while the vocals provide all kinds of different feels.

At times, the vocals feel almost just like an instrument themselves, adding this brilliant texture to the songs and giving them slight haunts at certain points. While others, it feels like they're robust and right in your face, riddled with attitude and swagger.

The vocals can be animated when they want to and subtle when those parts come up.

This is something that showcases the vocalist's ability to sort of go with the flow of the song. She follows the song's energies and brings them to higher climatic areas when they are needed.

She's got great range and does indeed have this almost theatrical tone to how she performs.

That range is showcased well in the second and title track, "Is This What You Wanted?".

This is a track where you can hear her go all over the place locally and start to shape the song into something unique.

Again, the percussion, bass guitar, and guitars are amazing throughout this track, and they still have this particular kind of rhythm that feels kind of flashy, which I did.

It's hard to explain, so you definitely have to listen to it. It's a unique time signature, and the certain notes and percussive hits that are emphasized make that rhythm have a particular sort of spark.

It's almost danceable. You almost want to get up and just start dancing to the track.

Now, these songs do have that alternative rock edginess to them, and they are heavy when they want to be, but they are also thinking outside the box.

This band is not reinventing the wheel, but they are taking their own approach and writing songs that have fewer boundaries than whatever you may be used to.

This is the kind of thing that I love. Just working outside that box. Being a little bit avant-garde about how you write songs or what an alternative rock song can be.

There are fewer rules with this band and I find that refreshing.

The third track, "You Tell Me", starts with more of an acoustic ballad sort of feel but grows into a cinematic and spacious track that hits harder with rock guitars in the background and heavier drums.

I love how this track grows because you don't expect you to go where it does. When it gets there, it's intense, and I love songs that can build that intensity level well.

The song, in particular, also has a brilliant melody vocally that just sticks in your brain for hours after the song is ended, and the only way to satiate that is to go and listen to it again.

The closing track of the record is called "Life In The City", and this track sort of reinstates the fact that a lot of these, or all of these, songs actually come from a real place.

There is an emotional backbone laced throughout this record, and if you listen to the lyrics carefully, you can pick up on that.

This final track is an amazing closer simply because it gives you that last side of the band. It shows you yet a different side of their songwriting approach and how they can still be addictive and inventive.

The production throughout this record is stellar, by the way. Everything is crisp, clear, fat low ends, and perfectly balanced high ends.

This was a very well-produced record with a lot of attention to detail in terms of arrangement, the tone of the instruments, and composition as a whole.

These songs are great. They're addictive and have some impact.

I love a band that writes great songs and does so with enough of an outside-the-box approach to notice it.

You'll have to listen to this record for yourself to understand exactly what I mean.

While you're doing that, take a read through of the interview we had with the band just below.

After listening to the record, we wanted to talk with them to find out where these songs came from and what might be coming up next for them.

Here's what went down.

Let's talk about Is This What You Wanted?! This EP hit hard with some alternative rock tones and super memorable riffs!!  Where did this record come from? 

Thank you! It really came out of a reset for us as a band. We decided to take a year out to properly focus on writing, without the pressure of constant gigging or releasing, and that gave us space to push ourselves into new territory. Over that time we wrote around 10 tracks, and the four that made the EP just seemed to click together—they carried a thread of energy and direction that felt like the right statement to make. Sonically, we wanted to try something a little more individual, leaning into mathy textures and structures, but still keeping that signature LSA punch and energy that runs through everything we do. In a way, it feels like the EP is both a continuation and a reinvention—it’s us experimenting, but also us being more ‘ourselves’ than ever before.

I'm hearing a few different approaches to this record! Who are some of your biggest musical influences? 

Individually we’ve all got really wide-ranging influences across different genres, which always ends up feeding into the way we write together. But for this record in particular, we found ourselves collectively drawn to bands like Pool Kids, Delta Sleep, and Biffy Clyro. Each of them has their own unique way of balancing technicality with emotion, and we loved digging into those little nuances—whether it was tempo shifts, dynamic changes, or the way a melody just cuts through. That process really helped us shape the songs, but also opened up new ways of approaching our own sound without losing the energy that makes us who we are.

Did you record this at a home setup, or at a big studio? 

We had the amazing opportunity to do this record at Marshall Records in Milton Keynes, as you can imagine Matt & Mike were in their element playing around with so many cool amp setups!  It was special to do this record in one creative space alongside Adam & Ollie who just captured it perfectly. To think the calibre of artists that have worked there, it was a great feeling to be welcomed just as equally and that created such an awesome atmosphere for the whole time we were there. 

How did this all start for you as a band? 

It’s kind of wild to think it’s been nearly 8 years already. LSA started pretty simply—Mike and Ellie put a post in our uni Facebook group looking to start something up, and from there the rest of us joined. Like any band, we’ve been through a lot over the years—not just shifts in musical direction, but all the ups and downs that come with trying to carve out your place in the music world. What’s kept us going is that fun we still have when we play and write together. Even 8 years on, we’re still having just as much fun as when we first started.

Are you guys performing live right now? 

We’ve just wrapped up our UK tour, which actually landed right in the middle of releasing the EP. It felt amazing to finally be back out playing shows again and to see people experiencing the new songs live for the first time. The response was so positive—it wasn’t just about playing gigs, it was about connecting with people, making new friends and fans along the way. Honestly, it was such a wholesome experience and a reminder of why we love doing this.

Now that this is out, what's next for you? 

We’ve got a couple of UK shows left to close out 2025, and then our focus shifts fully to next year. The big aim for us is to play more shows, hopefully jump on some support slots with bands we love, and really break into the festival circuit next summer. After spending so much time writing and releasing this EP, we want to keep that momentum going and get the music in front of as many people as possible.

Who's in your headphones right now? 

Right now, a few of us are deep in the Biffy wave—especially with their tour just announced, we’re buzzing to catch them live. On the flip side, we recently stumbled across The Beaches (shoutout to the algorithm for slipping them into our feeds). They’ve got such a cool vibe going on, and it’s been on repeat. Hopefully somewhere out there, we’re popping up on someone’s feed in the same way .

What would you tell people they can expect on this release? 

What we’d love is for people to just press play and discover it for themselves. This EP carries a lot of meaning for us—it reflects what we’ve been through as a band and the drive we have to keep pushing as a breakthrough artist. Sonically, the aim was always to make it feel real and present—like if you closed your eyes, you could picture us right there in the room playing it for you. That sense of honesty and connection was such an important part of producing this record, and we hope people can feel that when they listen.

Before we go, what would you like to express to fans of the music? 

Before anything else—we just want to say thank you. If you’ve listened to the EP, come along to a show, or even just checked us out online, we’re super grateful for the support. At the end of the day, we’re just a bunch of mates making music, having fun, and trying to put songs out there for people to connect with. We’re really proud of that, and we’d love for as many people as possible to be part of it with us.

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