Surely Not?
Last time we met Lomens, they were trying to make sense of a world that seemed permanently switched on, overwhelmed by headlines, noise and contradiction. On “Surely Not?”, the focus shifts closer to home. The West Yorkshire five-piece have traded public disorientation for something more intimate, exploring loss, addiction and betrayal not as isolated tragedies but as experiences that quietly reshape people over time. It is a subtle but important progression, suggesting a band that is becoming more interested in the complexity of human behaviour than in offering neat conclusions. There is also a growing confidence in the way Lomens approach genre. Contemporary alternative music increasingly rewards artists who refuse to stay in one lane, and this EP reflects that reality, drawing together guitar music, electronic textures and rhythmic ideas from beyond the usual indie playbook without ever sounding like a calculated exercise in genre-hopping. More importantly, everything feels connected by a shared emotional purpose. The fact that the band composed, recorded, produced and finished the release themselves only reinforces that sense of identity. Nothing here feels outsourced, polished into submission or shaped by external expectations. Instead, “Surely Not?” captures a group pushing further into its own personality, trusting listeners to follow. For a debut EP, that willingness to embrace uncertainty and contradiction feels surprisingly mature. Lomens are not presenting themselves as a finished product, nor should they. The most compelling artists rarely do. What matters is the sense of movement, and “Surely Not?” leaves the impression of a band discovering new territory while remaining unmistakably themselves.