TANK BATTLE by Simon Constantine

When Gorilla Perfumes closed the doors of their Islington store on January 22nd 2017, there was concern that their ground-breaking fragrances would also be locked away. Many perfume companies have disappeared over the years, and it’s not for want of trying, but finding a big enough customer base is the problem for many brands. Thankfully the perfumer behind Gorilla Perfumes was Simon Constantine, son of the founder of LUSH, and so the fragrances found a new home in the LUSH collection. There were many fascinating Gorilla Perfumes releases, but one of the most playful has to be the glorious Tank Battle.

Simon Constantine had been a perfumer at LUSH before he started Gorilla Perfumes, and so he was well versed in how to elicit scented reactions from his customers. Those fragrances were always bold creations with wonderful backstories, and it was this combination that attracted the fans. So, when he started creating the new collection, he knew that he had to continue this industry-defying approach in order to offer something that wasn’t available from another brand. The Gorilla Perfumes collection rapidly grew, because Simon has always been a prolific creator, but it would be in 2016 that Tank Battle appeared on the shelves.

The idea for Tank Battle came about because of the story of Tachowa Covington. He had been living in an unused water tank in Los Angeles when, unknown to him, the artist Banksy painted “This looks a bit like an elephant” on the side. This unfortunately ended up with the water tank being bought by a collector, and the wonderful interior that Tachowa had created was destroyed. He had sanded down the rust, painted it, furnished it with wood and items that he had found, and created a home. He was eventually evicted and the water tank relocated, but the story lives on in Tank Battle.

If you were a child in the 1970s, it's not actually that difficult to imagine living in a water tank. The television programme Catweazle centred around an 11th-century wizard, played by Geoffrey Bayldon, who manages to jump 900 years into the future. His adventures, or misadventures to be more precise, kept children entertained for two years. He lived at the grandly named Castle Saburac, which was actually a disused water tower in the middle of the woods. In a similar way to Tachowa, he furnished it with whatever he could find, and made an unlikely home. So, with life imitating art, are you ready to step inside?

Tank Battle opens with an intriguing blend of rosy bubble gum and clove, so there’s a real playfulness at the start. Very quickly though you begin to get a sense of neroli-edged lavender hitting against a metallic quality, almost rust-like, which gives a darker copper effect to the scent. This puts you firmly in the realms of a water tank in a wooded area. The brightness of a cardamom note then almost seems to represent the throws of the land-grab battle, before a patchouli and labdanum pairing signal that a victor has most definitely been named. This final earthy resin combination completes a fascinating fragrance which, while certainly not the usual run-of-the-mill perfume, is absolutely addictive.

Tank Battle is available from the LUSH website at lush.com, as well as in their stores, priced at £75 for 100ml. You can also click on the image below to read Simon Constantine's "Stephan's Six" interview from 2020. [Sample provided by LUSH]