The Mystery Plan’s ability to be windswept and ambient yet also structured and melodic within the same sonic space never ceases to amaze me. And the latest single, “Big Bliss”, is an excellent example of the band ploughing that particular furrow.
Solid beats and wilfully wandering basslines tether the song enough to stop it drifting off, and the guitars meander between the occasional cavernous growl and more delicate, razor-wire peripheral sonics. Then the song is draped in beguiling electronica that softens the edges and helps blur the lines. By the time Amy Herring’s vocals have danced delicately and deftly over the top, the song is complete, a fine line walked between regular song-penning and more cinematic soundscaping. Between the tangible and the ethereal.
If their last release, “What A Day (Disco)”, was a more upbeat and optimistic slice of blissed-out pop, ironically, “Big Bliss” explores some darker emotions. Here, Amy articulates the effect of constant streams of upsetting and spirit-breaking news reports and social media posts that often make it challenging to find the silver linings in life, to see the light and optimism among the tsunami of darkness that we are constantly bombarded with.
And the video accompanying the song is, in some ways, its mirror. Here we are treated to compelling and half-hidden images flashing out from the void in the same way that the music defies the same scrutiny. Best to just let the magic happen and allow the sound and images to do their mesmerizing work without analyzing things too closely. Life is always better that way.
After all, what’s life without a little mystery? And what’s life without a little Mystery Plan?
Haunted Organic Machines LP order
What A Day
What a Day EP / Bandcamp
Spotify
