Mush - 'Northern Safari'
Leeds art rockers Mush dropped Northern Safari, the second single from their upcoming album Down Tools, last week alongside a tour announcement. The album, coming July 8th, will be the group’s third, and they’ll be up and down the country in the months following its release.
Northern Safari’s whirling opening guitars are immediately attention grabbing. One guitar carries through while the other comes as an almost call and response part, playing off the main. They sound almost as if someone took the layers of distortion and effects from the swirling guitar work of My Bloody Valentine and injected it with a shot of indie slacker rock. The track doesn’t stay in one place for long, fidgeting between almost frantic verses and rising choruses throughout its length. Overtop of this sits a set of lyrical reflections on how the north of the country is viewed, delivered in a very deliberate inflection.
Northern Safari is one for those indie rock fans out there who like something out there, less predictable. Familiar tones applied to less familiar parts and structures. Going off of this and previous single Get On Yer Soapbox, Down Tools is sure to be well worth a listen. The band are crafting tunes that you wouldn’t hear from any other band going and the variety shown in just two singles will surely carry over on the record itself. If there’s more tracks like Northern Safari then their live shows also promise to be stellar.
Words by Nathan Blackstone
