Liverpool rockers The Mysteries have released their debut album Reeling and I simply cannot get enough of it.
Reeling flows between every badass mood you could think of and is perfect for those days you really need to feel yourself.
I was lucky enough to chat with The Mysteries frontwoman Lia Metcalfe and she walked me through the creative narrative she draws inspiration from.
HAPPY: Hey, Lia. How are you?
LIA: I’m good, thanks. How are you?
HAPPY: I’m good, thank you. It’s lovely to meet you. I would love to start by saying congratulations on your new album Reeling.
LIA: Oh, thank you so much.
HAPPY: I can honestly say I love every single song. It’s such a journey to listen to consecutively and my God, 13 songs. I feel like most of the albums coming out these days are shorter and it’s really cool to have so much to listen to.
LIA: Thank you so much.
HAPPY: Of course. How long have you been writing all of the songs?
LIA: Some of the songs date back to when I was like 16. So like Under Your Skin, I wrote that when I was like 16 and Still Call You Home is probably around, when I was like 18. So some of them are really old and some of them are super new, like last year. Oh sorry, the year before. I keep forgetting we’re in 2022. I mean, I suppose I’ve been writing with the Mysterines or as the Mysterines for a long time, and I’ve always really enjoyed writing as a kid and stuff. But I’m glad that you really appreciate there are 13 songs on there because I also feel the same about people releasing albums and there are like eight songs on there. It’s like, it’s not a fucking album.
HAPPY: No, it’s awesome. I just want a whole bunch of stuff. So it is awesome. It makes sense to hear as well that some are older songs just because of the number of songs that are there, but it flows together so beautifully.
LIA: Thank you.
HAPPY: I think that’s definitely a testament to your writing skills. And of course, you worked with Catherine Marks on the album. Did she work with you on every song?
LIA: Yes. She worked on every song. She did the whole record with us. And then me and her did the mix together. Except Life’s a Bitch, which we didn’t mix, Alan Moulder mixed that for us, but me and her did the rest of the album together once we recorded it.
HAPPY: That’s awesome. This is the first time you’ve worked with her, right?
LIA: Yeah. I mean, it was even… like I’d never met her beforehand either. Because of lockdown, the first day I met Catherine was the day that we went in to record the songs. I think I had a Facetime with her beforehand just to sort of, you know, break the ice and introduce myself. I think I made her a playlist when I was like really pissed with like loads of songs that I like on it that I wanted the record to sound like. I like Facetimed her really drunk. Like, ‘this is what you’ve got to do.’ But she was totally up for it. And she loved the enthusiasm.
HAPPY: Haha that’s awesome. You said that you name the album Reeling because it was the perfect word to summarise every emotion that was on there. I read something about it being the hardest thing you’ve had to do. Were you referring to naming or making the album?
LIA: No, not naming the album. That was always up there as one of the titles I want to use. There was like a few others, but I always sort of felt a lot more compelled towards Reeling. And when I wrote the song Reeling as well. When the record sort of came together and there was a turning point of like ‘this is the direction in which I want to go’. And yeah, I mean, the record itself was just one of the hardest things I’ve had to do in my career because I face a lot of resistance and a lot of ways, during that period, which was really hard to go through. But looking back now, I can look back with fondness and understand that lessons were learnt. But yeah, I mean, it was… you know, recording your debut in lockdown, that’s pretty hard anyway. Like we’d never recorded an album before. So that was our first time, our firsthand experience of that. So it was a pretty weird time but I think, you know, The Mysterines are pretty weird and obviously, it had to be when the world was in a complete apocalyptic state that we recorded a record.
HAPPY: That is serendipitous. It definitely shows, all of that hard work. It’s really come through.
LIA: Thank you.
HAPPY: Now, you’ve kind of mentioned that the album is very emotionally charged. And some of the lyrics flirt with some really dark subject matters. But there’s this lightness. You’ve got a sense of humour. Would you say that you have often used humour as a coping mechanism, or do you just generally have a dark sense of humour?
LIA: Both of those statements are completely correct, Chloe. Yes, I do use humour as a coping mechanism, and I definitely have a very dark sense of humour, which again, which is why I wanted it as part of the record, because it’s a part of who I am as a person and as a writer and some of my favourite lyricists and poets use humour and always gets taken so seriously and it creates a sort of irony between the writer and the audience member who thinks they’re being serious because the joke is sort of on them when they’re taking it seriously. So yeah, it’s meant to be like light sarcasm and I don’t know… like, it’s there for people to enjoy the humour. I’m glad people are picking up on it because sometimes I thought people were just genuinely going to believe that I’ve murdered all these people.
HAPPY: Haha oh yeah. On that, obviously, it sounds like it’s capturing a lot of yourself as a person in the style and the writing style, getting this humour across. But with the actual literal lyrics… do you feel like you’re writing from a sort of character?
LIA: Yeah, definitely. I think with some songs, you know, they’re definitely character inspired. Old Friends Die Hard would probably be the one that comes to mind the most. Or The Bad Thing, which I’ve written about two characters. Old Friends comes from the character who makes this guy fall in love with her, and she murders him and all his friends. And then The Bad Thing is about someone digging someone up from a grave because they would like to indulge in some romantic time with them. So yeah, they’re definitely from characters. I have not done either of those things and I’m not planning to.
HAPPY: Oh God, haha no. I did not assume that. You’re clearly a great writer, do you ever write stories like short stories or prose?
LIA: Yeah. I mean, I started writing before I even played an instrument. So it’s always been the first thing I was compelled to do. So I probably think of myself more as a writer than a musician sometimes. And I do write short stories and a lot of poems which we’ve actually released on the inside of the deluxe version of the record. So I wrote a booklet called Do Birds Sing in Hell, and it’s based on a poem as well, which is also called Do Birds Sing in Hell. And it’s got some short stories in there which are quite surreal. And I mean, a lot of my writing does come from an emotional and personal place, but I try and warp it through different mediums so it’s not directly connected to me and no one like basically… no one knows my secrets. But yeah, I mean, I really enjoy writing short stories and when I created that booklet alongside the record, it was really fun to do and I was pretty proud of it.
HAPPY: Oh wow, that’s so awesome. So much talent! I’m not surprised to hear that because your storytelling skills are superb.
LIA: Oh, thank you so much.
HAPPY: With that character as well, the style varies throughout the album. And I was wondering, I guess with the songs that are a little bit more country or more grungy, do you sit down and write musically write in that style, or do you already have like a mood and the lyrics in mind and then you kind of fit the music to that?
LIA: Yeah, pretty much. It’s more based around the mood of what I’m trying to say or I get a lot of visuals when I’m writing as well. Like I sometimes see… like, I don’t know, colours or I’ll reference a film. So stuff like On The Run, which is probably more on the country side, that was after I watched a film called Badlands by… Is it Terrence Malick? I think that’s his name. He’s the director. And it’s about these this couple who go on the run pretty much, and the setting of the film and the colour palette that’s used was a big influence on the sound of On The Run. So I suppose, you know, it was me and Kyle, we wrote that song. So we both didn’t sit down and say, ‘Oh, we want to write a song that sounds like this.’ I sort of showed Kyle the film, and then I sort of was like, ‘I want to make a song that sounds how that looks.’ And we sort of just sat down and did that. It’s a really weird way to probably do it, to be honest, and hard to explain. But yeah, that’s where that comes from.
HAPPY: I don’t know. That sounds very creative, which is ideal, right? It sounds like you’re in the right industry. Overall, the album kind of characterises you as pretty tough and pretty badass. I want to know if that’s something that you actually identify as or it’s like a part of yourself that you just enjoy letting shine within your music.
LIA: Yeah. I think again, it’s like the character thing. Like I definitely don’t walk around thinking I’m like The Rock or something, but I mean, I guess I want people to feel empowered when they listen to it because some of my favourite songs that have changed my life and changed how I view myself or songs that I listen to and felt really empowered from… like that can really help someone change their mind on themself. So I suppose it’s sort of like a weird method of therapy, like if I’m constantly singing about being a badass, then maybe I might be one. Like that sort of mindset.
HAPPY: I love that. I think that I’ll definitely be walking down the street playing this album to feel good. So great job.
LIA: That’s good. I’m glad.
HAPPY: So I think that’s all for me.
LIA: Oh, thanks so much for asking some great questions.
HAPPY: No worries, Lia. I will leave you to it. Have a great day.
Reeling is out now.
Photos Supplied
Interview by Chloe Maddren
