This is Glasgow-based Motopia’s debut single, released in early October, after over a year of increasingly confident live performances.
BM isn’t that familiar with the track (don’t think it has been part of the usual live set) and it is maybe something of a departure, at least initially. There’s a longish instrumental build-up (a good minute of the overall running time of just short of five minutes) which involves a fair bit of skittering percussion (quite atmospheric and maybe recalling some Banshees tracks) and wiry but loud guitar lines, before the pounding bass, and then eventually Mairead’s vocals, come in, and we are in serious sonic business…
There’s a playful, slightly theatrical bent to the verses, despite some quite dark lyrics – maybe a dash of the Alex Harvey here and there… while the chorus has a slightly unusual vocal harmony which sounds both Gothy and poppy in equal measure. Ultimately a song about hope and communal action over adversity (a key Motopia concern), it also includes a quite spectacular guitar solo which fair shakes the timbers, although Mairead’s powerhouse Janis Joplin vs Grace Slick vocals are in no danger of being drowned out or upstaged.
Rousing, complex and original, this is one of the debuts of the year – also best listened to very loud!
- Jill Lorean / Dayydream - 6 December 2024
- Blanck Mass - 21 November 2024
- Scoorieboy - 21 November 2024