Heartbreak has a tendency to become overly serious in indie music. Montello have other ideas. On ‘Eleanor (When Will You Learn?)’, the Wigan and Manchester quartet take the familiar territory of dysfunctional romance and give it enough momentum, melody and swagger to make the misery surprisingly danceable.
The song opens with jangling guitars that immediately place it in a distinctly British indie tradition, but Montello are less interested in wallowing in nostalgia than in putting those familiar sounds to work. A waltzing drum pattern gives the track its unusual sense of movement, while the guitars keep the arrangement bright enough to prevent the emotional weight from becoming oppressive.
That contrast is the song’s biggest strength. Lyrically, ‘Eleanor’ is about frustration, resentment and the exhaustion of dealing with someone whose self-absorption has turned a relationship into an endless negotiation. Musically, however, Montello refuse to sink into gloom. There is an almost mischievous quality to the delivery, particularly in the sarcastic declarations of affection and the repeated question at the centre of the song.
It makes the track feel less like a breakup confession and more like the moment when patience finally starts running out.
Montello’s influences are clear without completely defining the song. The Smiths’ lyrical wit and romantic melancholy are present, while The Cure’s atmospheric edge can be heard beneath the brighter guitars. Elsewhere, the immediacy of early-2000s indie comes through in the band’s instinct for a chorus that feels built for a room full of people shouting it back.
There are also traces of the more swaggering side of British guitar music, from The Stone Roses and Oasis to the sharper indie-rock energy associated with The Vaccines and early Arctic Monkeys. Rather than simply recreating those reference points, Montello combine them into something comfortably familiar but still energetic enough to feel current.
Jacob Knowles’ vocal performance is central to that balance. There is yearning in the delivery, but it is never allowed to become self-pitying. The frustration remains close to the surface, giving the song a sense of forward motion even when its narrator is essentially asking the same question again and again.
Produced by Luke Owens of Bank Holiday, the track has the clarity and punch required to make those melodies land without sanding away the band’s character. The guitars remain prominent, the rhythm has a natural bounce, and the arrangement leaves plenty of room for the chorus to become the obvious focal point.
Montello have already demonstrated that they can translate this style of indie rock to festival stages and larger Manchester venues. ‘Eleanor (When Will You Learn?)’ suggests they understand why the formula works. Sometimes the best way to write about a relationship going nowhere is to give the song somewhere to go.
Montello do exactly that, turning romantic frustration into three minutes of jangling guitars, bitter affection and irresistible forward motion.
