Jetlag is a London outfit fronted by Simon Glancy, and the band has taken to calling their own sound “indie maximalist,” a label that fits once you actually hear it. Rather than picking a lane, they cram in as many textures as a song can hold, psych touches, glam swagger, new wave synths, classic rock guitar work, all without losing the throughline underneath. “Wicked Tongue” is a standalone single, not tied to any bigger release, and it makes a strong case for that everything-at-once approach.
Wicked Tongue
The song opens sounding almost carefree, jangly acoustic chords setting the pace with a punchy lead guitar line cutting through and a rhythm section that won’t sit still. But there’s something a little off underneath all that color, a jittery, uneasy quality that keeps surfacing even while the arrangement stays sunny on the surface. That tension is the whole point, the title points toward regret over words that can’t be taken back, that sinking, specific dread of running your own mouth back in your head hours later and not being able to shake it, all dressed up in a sound too lively to actually sulk to.
Glancy’s vocal does a lot of the storytelling here, starting off almost conversational before pushing into something bigger and more strained as the song builds, mirroring the way a small regret can spiral the longer you sit with it. Layered harmonies stack up underneath the loudest moments without tipping the song into melodrama. Underneath him, the band keeps piling on detail, a gnarled, fuzzed-out guitar tone works against cleaner acoustic strumming, synth lines slide in and out without crowding anything, and a guitar solo shows up late that leans hard into pure classic-rock showmanship.
What’s genuinely impressive is how none of it collapses under its own weight. With this many moving pieces, a song like this could easily turn into a mess, but everything here earns its spot, and the chaos actually resolves into something you can dance to rather than something exhausting to sit through.
Final Thoughts
“Wicked Tongue” takes a pretty universal, uncomfortable feeling, saying the wrong thing and wishing you hadn’t, and turns it into something you’d want blasting at full volume. It’s a genuinely exciting listen from a band clearly not interested in playing it safe.
You can find Jetlag on Instagram. What did you think of the new single? Stay tuned to MusicOnTheRox.com for all your music news and reviews.
