As the first single and a teaser and taste of Messiness’s debut album to come, “Previous Life” carries a lot of weight on its shoulders. As they say, you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Thankfully, this first sonic outing bowls the listener over with charm and confidence, musical smarts, and effortlessly cool. Sonic charisma, they have it in no short supply.
Spend some time getting to know the music, and you will find elements of Britpop groove and indie riffery at work, but the sort that echoes with no small amount of sixties sass. There is a kaleidoscopic, psychedelic feel to be found, a lysergic, space rock out-of-body experience that is dreamily calming, whilst at the same time being wonderfully quirky. There is also something of the early progressive rock scene going on here, back when it was still truly progressive, adventurous, experimental and still felt like a kooky branch of pop music.
And as Max Raffa sings, “I’m making plans for my previous life,” a sentiment that matches John Lennon’s famous lyric, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans,” the sense of regret and lost time, nostalgia and reflection is palpable.
But essentially, it is an anthem for freedom, a message to break away from conformity and structure, forget about the titular previous life, and look forward to…well, who knows…to a future of your own making, I guess.
