Lump

Lump emerged as a joint endeavor between Laura Marling and Mike Lindsay of Throws and Tunng. After pursuing music independently from his established groups, Lindsay eventually sought a vocalist to complete his ideas. The pair first crossed paths at a Neil Young concert where Marling performed in the opening slot. Already admirers of one another’s catalogs, they decided to form Lump on the spot.

Marling drew lyrical influence from the verse of Edward Lear and Ivor Cutler along with the broader Surrealist movement, while the music fused the contemporary folk style of her solo work with the folktronica sound associated with Lindsay’s band Tunng. The self-titled debut album appeared in 2018 after the release of its lead single, “Curse of the Contemporary.” Once the record was out, both artists returned to individual projects: Marling delivered her seventh studio effort, Song for Our Daughter, in 2020, and Lindsay produced albums for Dana Gavanski and Douglas Dare while also overseeing Tunng’s eighth release, Dead Club.

The duo reconvened during 2020 inside Lindsay’s studios in Margate, England, to begin work on a successor. That follow-up, titled Animal, reached listeners in mid-2021.