Can You Smell Burning?
The artwork on the new MMF record is quite striking – a rose inside a broken skull – it sort of animates what life is all about. Out of something that has been destroyed, there is hope for a new start, a chance to rebuild and re-connect with our lives.
With the appetising lyric
“I never used to be so dead inside” from opener “The Old Me” we dive headfirst into the Metalcore waters and swim merrily amongst the turtles and the angel sharks. We have here quite tuneful and melodic songs that talk of how we are all trying to make sense of the nonsense around us.
We will avenge; as we send out the warning to “Watch Out” and we get “ready for war and settle the score”.
The chorus is great here, quite rousing, energetic and easy to listen to.
“Sell My Soul” is quite slow but still delivers a stinging message,
“they feel safe when my mouth is closed”
In “Who I Am” we find the LP title,
“every time your heart gets broken” and we shout out in earnest “you can’t fix me!”
It’s quite agonising really to be carrying all the excess emotional weight, so we have a nice little rap section in “Heavy Is The Weight” to change the pace, but I really like the way the song gathers speed to finish.
These are dangerous times; and it’s great to have such a friendly handshake of a record to diffuse the ticking timebomb that is constantly strapped to our backs.
The empathetic and engaging “Over It” speaks accurately of the continual spiral of anxiety and stress we endure, “am, pm it never stops, stressed out around the clock”
It is a stark reminder of how we get trapped in our lives, it’s time to step back and take a breather.
Another beautiful singalong tune in “Fool”, she says gently headbanging and typing at the same time. Warm yourselves my friends, this fire is sempiternal, that’s after you’ve cried to the tune of the ballad “You and Me”. Tissues, please.
We end on a high as we hope to “Live Another Day” and we strive to face our troubles, and not waste time just pushing them around the dinner plate like the unwanted peas and carrots.
Where’s the fire? I hear you ask. Well, it began right here in Memphis, and has spread across the seas and across the world, if I may say so.
Memphis May Fire – Broken out now on Rise Records