Milly - 'Ring True'
Attention shoe-gazers - Dangerbirds signees Milly present for you a bittersweet gem in their latest single ‘Ring True’.
Not long on the scene, Milly have already amassed an impressive list of big names backing them - NME, NPR, Line of Best Fit, Clash, Rolling Stone and of course, yours truly. Having already displayed proficiency and a strong identity on their ethereal EP ‘Wish Goes On’ - ‘Ring True’ takes this one step further.
The song came into being initially as a short poem - frontman Brendan Dryer describes it as articulating “the freedom I’ve always felt while listening to bands like Death Cab for Cutie and The Smiths”. Off of their upcoming second album ‘Eternal Ring’, ‘Ring True’ occupies a slightly different space to their other offerings thus far. Previous single ‘Nullify’ manages to tread the fine line between grunge and emo-pop, whilst ‘Illuminate’ doubles down on the heavier elements of shoe-gaze - but they’re all tied together with sorrowful post-rock sensibilities and Brendan Dryer’s captivatingly soothing vocal delivery.
‘Ring True’ opens with everything you’d ever want out of a break-up song: a melancholy guitar part developing slowly, engulfed in modulation and garnished with before breaking into the tom-driven you were waiting for. Like all shoe-gaze, it’s a journey for the forlorn - from it’s sad-sing-along choruses, to it’s climactic guitar fuzz interludes, breathing life into the well-trodden with variation and style. Milly have, at this point, perfected the wall-of-guitars sound, yet the lower moments pack just as much punch. Late nineties, early noughties guitar rock is clearly making a comeback and we couldn’t be happier.
Based on ‘Ring True’ alone, debut album ‘Eternal Ring’ garners high hopes for some shoe-gazing brilliance — alongside the other two stellar singles it’s a sure bet.
Words by Ashley Garrod
