Taking inspiration from their own nocturnal London of afterparties, neon lights, A-roads and the rain, electronic act Real Lies make it their mission to seek out and eulogise the romance of late-night city living. Their second album, Lad Ash – released in 2022 after a seven-year wait – combines the classic lyrical story-telling of the greatest groups to emerge from the UK and Ireland, with the uncanny rainswept atmospheres of auteurs like Claude Young, Drexciya and Richard D James.
In the live arena, their music takes flight in a relentlessly propulsive club-ready set. One that leads their devoted cult fanbase on a rapturous, hour-long odyssey of banging beats, cinematic strings and torch songs giving meaning and magic to the thrills and spills of hedonism. “Every weekend, without fail, our DMs will be rammed with late-night messages,” says frontman Kevin Lee Kharas. “It’s in those warped hours that people tend to find our music. Sometimes when I reply the next day, they seem embarrassed about DMing us. But they shouldn’t be.
“I feel this passionately – hedonism is often seen as this big waste of time, cash and brain cells. But it’s in those moments that we meet the people who most shape our lives. We make music for people who would die for their friends. And those nights that make us who we are.”
Now operating as a duo, Real Lies have emerged back into those nights in an adrenalised new shape. An intoxicating swirl of dancers, roses, oratory, special guests and slogan-bearing flags made for the witching hour warehouses and basements Real Lies have always loitered in.
