USA - 2021
Synthpop, Dance-Pop, Electropop
At last ! Mercurial World. I’ve read so many reviews, heard snippets, saw visuals but somehow it never clicked. I listened to the most praised songs, You Lose!, Secrets, Chaeri, but I never understood why this album was considered an instant classic. I believe my issue was that I never tried to listen to it as a proper album. I had to start with the beginning… or… The End.
Pink, ultraviolet ink spilled over a sparkling sphere of light. Dance-Pop, dancefloor and rhinestones, addiction has to start somewhere. Entering Mercurial World is the addiction. It’s glittering but never naive, with spacey reverbs and catchy performances. But most of all, it’s a crazily generous album.
Mica Tenenbaum and Matthew Lewin never have enough. During Dawning in the Season and through Secrets, the classic structures verse-chorus-verse are all wallpapered with events. Within the vocals, in the melody, with additional instruments and layers, sparse saxophones, the constant evolution of the songs makes it impossible to just sit and grasp the essence of the songs. In our ears, it remains a forever complex density.
Going back to You Lose! after being properly introduced to Magdalena Bay’s supersonic world now feels like a blast. The crunchy synths, the heavy beats and whispered lyrics are indeed worth all the love it received.
This is the confirmation of how important SOPHIE and Arca’s legacy are to nowadays music. There has been a shift. Dance-Pop and Synthpop is now looking straight into the eyes of Hyperpop and Deconstructed Club, while always remembering the efficiency and accessibility of pop anthems.
If a song like Prophecy slows the pace down both in vivacity and creativity, Mercurial World’s core is its rising intensity. How far and how loud can you go while staying attached to the realm of pop music ? According to Mercurial World the answer is : up to space. So bring the noise !
Pink, ultraviolet ink spilled over a sparkling sphere of light. Dance-Pop, dancefloor and rhinestones, addiction has to start somewhere. Entering Mercurial World is the addiction. It’s glittering but never naive, with spacey reverbs and catchy performances. But most of all, it’s a crazily generous album.
Mica Tenenbaum and Matthew Lewin never have enough. During Dawning in the Season and through Secrets, the classic structures verse-chorus-verse are all wallpapered with events. Within the vocals, in the melody, with additional instruments and layers, sparse saxophones, the constant evolution of the songs makes it impossible to just sit and grasp the essence of the songs. In our ears, it remains a forever complex density.
Going back to You Lose! after being properly introduced to Magdalena Bay’s supersonic world now feels like a blast. The crunchy synths, the heavy beats and whispered lyrics are indeed worth all the love it received.
This is the confirmation of how important SOPHIE and Arca’s legacy are to nowadays music. There has been a shift. Dance-Pop and Synthpop is now looking straight into the eyes of Hyperpop and Deconstructed Club, while always remembering the efficiency and accessibility of pop anthems.
If a song like Prophecy slows the pace down both in vivacity and creativity, Mercurial World’s core is its rising intensity. How far and how loud can you go while staying attached to the realm of pop music ? According to Mercurial World the answer is : up to space. So bring the noise !