Pop-rock act LANY have long stuck to the same formula. Their music leans into intimate, diary-like details and choruses built to echo in stadiums, anchored by Paul Klein’s familiar talk-sing vocal delivery. With their latest single, “Know You Naked,” from their upcoming album Soft due this October, the duo introduces a shinier, dreamier polish, but the core still feels recycled.
LANY helped shape a corner of pop in the late 2010s — washed-out visuals, breathy vocals, raw synths — but that space has since moved on. In “Know You Naked,” the band decided to take a mild shift in the production, with its overall instrumentation moving towards a rough, rugged and chuggy direction. They experiment with layering instrumentals, particularly its slightly warped guitar chords and lo-fi textures. But it plays out like a cosmetic upgrade rather than a creative breakthrough. In this latest material, they trade the lean, synth-driven minimalism of their earlier work — like their self-titled album and Malibu Nights — for deceivingly glossy electronics.
Klein once again leans into sensuality in the single’s lyrics. “I hope it’s okay for me to say it / Let me worship what my god created,” he sings. “You’re a masterpiece, the wonders of the world are overrated.” The lyrics continue the band’s long-running thread of wide-eyed, oversexed ballads about beautiful women and complicated feelings. It’s a familiar story, and not a particularly gripping one anymore.
The result is a mid-tier return that may still work for longtime fans but doesn’t offer anything to draw new ones in. It’s a safe play dressed up as a bold one, a shimmer with no surprise. And by now, LANY should know better.
