Efro was born in Athens, studied in Brighton and is now based in Berlin, and that movement between different scenes slips into her music too: melodic indie rock, gentle psychedelia and a clear soft spot for vintage textures. On Lipstick Stains, all of that turns into a slow, seductive, slightly lazy slice of psychedelic indie, more interested in pulling you into its mood than taking you anywhere in particular.
The drums are dry and stripped back, while the bass just settles into a hypnotic groove and gets on with it. There’s something of Dope Lemon’s sensual languor in there, mixed with a touch of psychedelic blues and a dream-pop lightness that hangs quietly in the background.
The guitars do most of the heavy lifting: clean, warm and soaked in reverb, with a surf feel that sits somewhere close to Allah-Las. Instead of going for big riffs, they build a spacious, sun-drenched, slightly hazy atmosphere where everything seems to hover. And underneath all that calm, there’s just enough garage grit to mess up the postcard.
Efro sings with an almost conversational ease, with flashes of Courtney Barnett in her delivery, and that loose phrasing works perfectly with lyrics full of summer, desire, little escapes and small luxuries. She’s not really telling a story so much as piling one sensation on top of another until the whole thing starts to feel like a fantasy of an endless holiday.
“Lipstick Stains began as a visualisation of a perfect endless idealistic summer. I first started writing the lyrics by having in mind the things that make summer what it is — long days at the beach, listening to the waves crashing, summer love. Then I came up with the bassline keeping the song moving no matter what, and later came the bridge, with the song reaching its climax there, kind of portraying those more spontaneous summer moments we all know and love. It’s a love song about summer.” Efro.
And now that summer is packing up the beach bar, Lipstick Stains feels like the little extension it gives itself: one more Aperol, one more night running slightly too long, and the decision to pretend September isn’t happening. If the calendar insists it’s time to get back to reality, Efro clearly has other plans.
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