Le Charme’s “Garden (I Know You Want Me, You Want More)” is a postcard etched, but never sent

Before transgressing their degree of separation – the mutual friend whose rooftop laid stage to their meeting – twenty-somethings Lexie Thomas and Kevin Hyland were both individually guitarists, neurotic, and, funniest of all, looked a lot alike. Two twin flames, connecting over the combined ashes they spewed across a silhoutted New York.

It was a year later, alongside an upgrade of their friendship status to neighbours, that the duo formed their indie pop outfit Le Charme. Trading the then well-worn bar scene for a drum machine, they set out on their artistic call to force: to turn the smoking area gossip shared between friends into lines of smoggy poetry, splutters and all.

Now comes their third single, “Garden (I Know You Want Me, You Want More)”. Without foregoing the hardened crunch of Hyland’s guitar riffs, Thomas’ vocals glide across the production, echoing and overdrawn in the manner of shoegaze greats before (see: Black Honey, Pale Waves). There’s little pause for breath as the lyrics run like an unrelenting stream of intimate consciousness. Weary and jaded, but entirely kitsch, Thomas sings “Will you meet me in the garden? Please just wait / I know you want to but you won’t stay / and I think I need to go home.”

The track buckles in and out of being; a longing vignette, equal parts hazy and all too raw. “You had on that one dress / that makes you feel like an actress / and I can’t keep crying on the floor.” Explaining its origin, the duo share “The idea for the track came from Lexie meeting a chic mother in an Italian garden five years ago. She was drinking red wine and chain smoking cigarettes as her children ran around. Chords were written in November 2023 and the imaginative lyrics came quickly after, exploring the ideas of yearning, idealism, and wanting something that you can’t quite have.”

“The dream-like quality of the lyrics and vocal melody are elements that were always top of mind in production. We’ve tinkered with this song more than anything else we’ve made thus far… It sort of feels like the first song we’ve ever made, as it is so truly us.” And, backed by that powerful feeling of holistic authority over their identity, Le Charme better get used to the rooftop views.