I Wish This Didn’t Hurt - Lester. EP Review
Lester. is a Michigan based project by Celeste Janae Jones. Celeste sings and plays guitar, as well as writes all of the music. The group also consists of their partner, Austin Staeoeczyk, on bass and Gabe Wood, of S@YP, on drums (although sometimes for live performances they use other drummers). I first heard about Lester. as I was preparing to attend PugFest 2 over the summer and instantly fell in love with their sound.
On December first, Lester. put out their latest EP, I Wish This Didn’t Hurt, featuring 4 news songs! Follow along as I share my thoughts on this latest release as I listen for the first time.
The album starts with a single guitar, reminding me a bit of Radiohead for a moment, with vocals coming in around the 30sec. mark. The song stays pretty mellow until about the two minute mark where it starts to build up, coming to fruition at around 2:30. The song slows back down before ending just shy of 4min.
This song once again starts with some melancholy guitar. The verses have great movement to them, and you can feel each line push and pull through her use of dynamics and a driving bass.
This is the only song from the EP that I had already heard. This has been my favorite Lester. song since the first time I heard it. Right from the start it catches your attention, and it doesn’t let go for the entire 1:42 of the song. This song is heavier on the drums. and a faster pace, than many of Lester.’s songs. I have played this song on my show quite a few times since I found it, and is in my top 150 most played songs of 2024, not bad for a song I found in July that isn’t even two minutes long.
Gracefully transitioning from Motions, this song also utilizes more guitar and drums than the earlier tracks on the EP. Another easy melody to follow, and get sucked into, thanks to the almost hypnotic sound and rhythm of Celeste’s voice. There is a moment of silence just before the two minute mark, that ushers in a different sound and rhythm. This culminates around 2:30 when it falls back into the original sound to finish out the song.
The final track on the EP returns to the softer sound of the first two songs, allowing the lyrics to shine. A seemingly simple guitar riff carries you through most of the song, like the gentle rocking of a boat. It picks up around 2:30, but keeps the melody the same.
Overall I really enjoyed this EP. I love the use of dynamics to show emotion and tell the story, rather than relying solely on picking up the pace or changing the rhythm. Each song feels sonically connected, but different enough from each other to not grow uninteresting. I appreciate the story that listening in order takes you on, and recommend if you don’t usually listen to EPs/Albums in order, you give it a shot.
