An oxymoron is a figure of speech that juxtaposes elements that appear to be contradictory, in a literary sense they are crafted to reveal a paradox and musically it plays in a similar field. For instance how many times have you listened to a dark, sinister track only to have fond memories or emotions evoked through listening?
Whether knowingly or not Melbourne four-piece Fierce Mild have created a sinister oxymoron in the literal and musical sense. After listening to Song He Never Wrote the bands name becomes all the more powerful, as statement of the baleful, absurd yet ever more attractive world they choose to revel in.
A sinister tempest to test your mind, Fierce Mild’s new single Song He Never Wrote is the perfect storm of weird sounds and on point guitar hooks.
Song He Never Wrote wastes no time in transporting you in to an unsettling dream world, hitting you with a reverb drenched guitar hook that does literally that, hooks you in to then sideswipe you with a sparse, rolling and heavy drumbeat accompanied but a pushing bass and a darkly distorted guitar. To say that’s where they choose to rest for the song is a gross understatement, listening to this track will allow for several detours and cranial transgressions weaving from spacey beginnings to compact riffing in between verses.
Lyrically speaking it matches the mood of the track, dark and brooding, with lines like “He said it didn’t matter, so he wouldn’t show his face, said it didn’t matter but he looked like a fucking disgrace.” The delivery effortlessly moves between a rambling and melodic delivery making you feel like a fly on the wall in the middle of a meltdown, and we couldn’t be happier.
The layering of the track means every member can be heard clearly, which pays of well as they lead in to the swelling climax that really brings home that visceral atmosphere. On first listen we don’t doubt some will feel uneasy, on second listen you’ll realize that was the point and on third listen you’ll be fully encompassed in their sinister world.
Fierce Mild have delivered a track that plays with the murkier parts of your psyche without detracting from their cohesive skill as a band and their accomplishment as individual musicians. If you’re going to get strange, do it with a Fierce Mild.
You can catch the band when they play Stargazed at The Shadow Electric on April 9, a unique performance that combines music and surreal visuals via large scale video projections.
