Francis Lung - A Dream Is U

The Guardian 60

(Memphis Industries)
Jangling, inward-looking lo-fi indie with Elliott Smith touches has potential but lacks his former band Wu Lyf’s originality

The young, mysterious buzz band is a mainstay of British music culture. In 2019, the most-hyped-of-them-all are improv rockers Black Midi, but way back in 2011 that title went to Manchester’s Wu Lyf, a kind of cider-soaked Arcade Fire approximation whose name reverberated around the music press for some time before they – inevitably – announced their breakup via YouTube. Three years on, bassist Tom McClung struck out as lo-fi, indie pop star Francis Lung, his music more introspective if not overly original. A Dream Is U is his first full-length solo project, and one that comes with the promise of sounding “like a short Mancunian boy single-handedly trying to incite Beatlemania”.