[mp3] Mercury Rev - "Senses On Fire"

After an entire career of pushing the sonic envelope, which peaked with the high-on-helium masterpiece Deserter’s Songs and continued with its lush follow up All Is Dream, 2005’s disappointing The Secret Migration felt more like a comedown than a letdown for Mercury Rev. The first single from the band’s forthcoming releases (there are 2 - one free, one not) finds the band trying out some new tricks. The dream-pop orchestration of the first minute or so will sound familiar to anyone listening over the past decade, but after a slow build-up gives way to left-field sound effects, echoed guitars, and some skittery beats, it’s clear the band is into some different aural territory. The repetitive, slightly distorted vocals don’t sound anything like the Wonderland croon Jonathon Donahue has employed for so long now either, but somehow fit the song’s tempered propulsion just fine. No, this isn’t exactly “Opus 40” great, but “Senses On Fire” is feistier than anything the band has done in years and is hopefully a sign of what to expect.

MP3 :: Senses On Fire (via P'fork)
(from Snowflake Midnight. Info here)
-----------------------------------------------------