Lime Cordiale’s third album could have turned out very differently. Early on in its creation, as brothers Louis and Oli Leimbach were writing on their farm in the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, there were thoughts of it being a country album. “It just had some of that farm aesthetic and twang,” Oli tells Apple Music. “But then, months on, [we started] writing these ’80s tunes like ‘Love Is Off the Table’ or ‘Cold Treatment’,” adds Louis. There was also talk of calling the album À la carte which, says Louis, would have involved setting it out like “your entrées, your mains and the desserts. But there were a lot of references to food, and I don’t know if that was a strong enough idea for an album.” Eventually, they settled on Enough of the Sweet Talk, a record which loosely explores the timeline of a relationship, from its naive, giddy early days through to its eventual collapse. Though stopping short of calling it a concept album, the brothers draw on their separate romantic experiences and present them in a way that feels like a single relationship. A more rock and guitar-oriented album than 2020’s 14 Steps to a Better You—also a record with a loose concept, based around being a self-help guide—Enough of the Sweet Talk features four spoken word interludes (“cue i”, “cue ii”, “cue iii” and “cue iv”) which help move the narrative along. Though they sound like excerpts from a classic French film, they’re in fact a recording of a friend talking about their relationship experiences. “We had hours of her talking, and then we just picked apart our favourite moments that worked for the album,” reveals Oli. Here, Louis and Oli break down the romantic rollercoaster that is Enough of the Sweet Talk, track by track. “Pedestal” Oli: “It’s about kind of idolising someone from afar and wanting to keep yourself at that distance. If you’re going to get to know each other, everything changes, and it’s not necessarily a good thing. It’s like daydreaming is actually nicer than probably getting to know each other.” “The Milkman” Oli: “This one was written up at our farm. You can hear the cows at the end.” Louis: “It’s sort of about self-love, in inverted commas. Satisfying one’s own needs.” Oli: “Again, there is this idolising side—we just wanted to paint the picture of the ultimate person. These first few songs are the naive and young, dumb love perspective.” “Facts of Life” Louis: “It’s looking back on growing up in Avalon and your first loves. You’d just drive around to pass the time and have a great time together without having to do too much.” Oli: “We’re two years apart but would have had very similar experiences in a way, growing up on the northern beaches [of Sydney], getting introduced to alcohol and sex and getting your licence and that sort of thing.” “Enough of the Sweet Talk” Oli: “Written at our farm. The groove feels like you want to line dance to it, so the pedal steel just seemed to work really well. It feels like you want to be spitting in a bucket after you sing the chorus. The main line in this song is ‘my meaning of life’: ‘I don’t want to give up my meaning of life, whatever that means.’ Maybe that should have been the title of this song, but it just felt a bit cliché. ‘Enough of the Sweet Talk’ seemed to wrap up this relationship, really; just tell the story.” “Happiness Season” Oli: “It’s kind of like regurgitating this experience to someone—that’s how I see it in my head anyway. I see you kind of telling someone about this whole relationship, and just brain-spewing this whole thing in this selfish way. Then suddenly, at some point realising that that’s all bullshit and in your head, and the person who you’re talking to is the person that you actually admire and love all along. Like, who you love is right in front of you.” “Colin” Oli: “That was inspired by Colin [Hay]. We always loved his acoustic stuff. I was watching him live on Instagram, he was showing how to play one of his songs, and I grabbed my guitar. I was playing along to his video, and then I put the phone down when it finished and came up with that riff at the start of the song. I was like, I can’t use that because it’s exactly like a Colin Hay song. So I asked him and he’s like, ‘No, it doesn’t feel like any of my songs.’ So because it started with Colin—but it’s not about Colin—we wanted to end the song with him singing. So we asked if he wanted to sing on it. It’s incredible.” “When I’m Losing It” Louis: “This song is admitting to myself that I struggle with anxiety pretty hard. Then trying to hide that from someone in a relationship. It’s quite a hard thing to do when you’re with somebody. You want to act like a cool, loving person, but underneath you’re this anxious mess. So that was sort of me admitting to the world and myself that that’s something I do.” “Imposter Syndrome” Oli: “One of those ones where it’s a bit of a dark message but a joyous song.” Louis: “Impostor syndrome has been a constantly growing thing for us. I used to think that as you’re getting more success and recognition your imposter syndrome would disappear. For me, it feels like it’s getting stronger and stronger.” Oli: “It’s quite funny that ‘Imposter Syndrome’ took ages to get right, because of the imposter syndrome. This point in the album is like, the doubt in this relationship and yourself—I guess it starts with ‘Colin’ and comes through to ‘Imposter Syndrome’.” “The Big Reveal; Ou L’Hypocrite” Oli: “It’s quite theatrical. It’s kind of about a drama queen that just likes to bring the drama into their own life. It’s like, you’re not showing me anything. I’m waiting for that big reveal. So this is definitely another turning point in the album for sure.” “Country Club” Oli: “The silly songs like this come so easy to us. Especially when it has a bit of a reggae feel.” Louis: “We almost write them as a joke to begin with. It’s just like a fun, silly, drunk jam.” “Cold Treatment” Oli: “My girlfriend never ever gets angry at me. But, I think it was even the night before [we wrote this], I was like, ‘Why are you upset?’. She just turned her back on me in bed. I was like, ‘Are you just not talking to me?’. It’s a powerful move. Just full-blown cold treatment. So she had her back to me whilst I was jotting down the lyrics.” “Love Is Off the Table” Oli: “The oldest song on the album.” Louis: “It’s a real post-breakup song, when you are just falling apart. This song would probably be six years old or something, and we’re repurposing it post-breakup with another person.” “Strangers” Oli: “I really like the chorus, it feels pretty simple, but in a classic way. The lyric I really love is ‘People fall out of love/But, no, I never thought it’d be us.’ When every relationship is good you don’t think it’s going to end.”