An achingly intense and emotionally charged alt-rock fever dream, “Stray” is The Mysterines at their finest: Explosive and unsettling, impassioned and unapologetic, the Liverpool band’s first single of the year is an angsty, grungy, gut-wrenching eruption from the dark depths of a weary soul.
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Stream: “Stray” – The Mysterines
Often when the hands of loneliness have a firm grip over one’s eyes it can turn dangers into open doors inviting you in. We find a certain point of no return and we’re often led astray.
The first thing you feel from The Mysterines’ latest single is tension: A raw, visceral, and unabating urgency courses through the air as sweaty guitars churn out a dark and ominous melody. Heavy drums add to the fervor, their thick beat dramatic and jarring.
And then Lia Metcalfe comes in, and lights the whole world on fire.
An achingly intense and emotionally charged alt-rock fever dream, “Stray” is The Mysterines at their finest: Explosive and unsettling, impassioned and unapologetic, the Liverpool band’s first single of the year is an angsty, grungy, gut-wrenching eruption from the dark depths of a weary soul.
What a drag it is,
look what you’ve done now
You’re not the kind to make real promises
Listen to the city before you step outside
It’s easy to disobey the warning signs now
We’re stray, we’re stray, we’re stray,
can we just rewind back?
“‘Stray’ focuses on the aimless and untamed nature of the polarities of behaviour that we experience when dealing with suffering,” The Mysterines’ dynamic vocalist Lia Metcalfe – who plays together with George Favager (bass), Callum Thompson (guitar) and Paul Crilly (drums) – tells Atwood Magazine. “Whether it’s guilt, paranoia or unexplained feelings of grandiosity. Often when the hands of loneliness have a firm grip over one’s eyes, it can turn dangers into open doors inviting you in. We find a certain point of no return and we’re often led astray.”
The Mysterines have been on our radar ever since the 2022 release of their “uncompromising and unapologetic” debut album Reeling, a record that continues to send shockwaves through all who listen.
“Their brand of alternative rock is heavy and heated, catchy and cathartic – erupting from a dark, dynamic, and emotionally turbulent core,” Atwood Magazine wrote in our artist feature. “There’s drama in every chord, electricity in every riff, and pure passion in every vocal line, all of which comes together in a breathtaking ecstasy of alluring and immersive sonic churn.”
Another lesson learnt a bit too young
No you’re not the kind to say
You can tell me what honest is
I’m back in the city and you could change my mind
It’s not so easy to see the warning signs now
We’re stray, we’re stray, we’re stray
Can we just rewind back?
Ever ones to capture life’s chaos, upheaval, and inner turmoil, The Mysterines hold nothing back in “Stray,”
delivering yet another irresistible, white-hot scorcher that leaves us breathless, restless, and disturbed in the best way possible.
The first taste off the forthcoming sophomore album Afraid of Tomorrows (set to release June 7), “Stray” is been billed as the beginning of a “new era” for the up-and-coming alternative rock – and one that sets an unquestionably high bar for all that’s to come.
“Afraid of Tomorrows is a mirror where you find you’re nothing more than a formless being, one made from celestial constellations — of traumas, of the old and new, mistakes, addiction, fear and happiness, loneliness, but ultimately a desire for life and the fight to keep living,” Lia Metcalfe explains. “It’s a collage of what’s been lost and of love unbounded.”
Listen, I get the feeling that you know the answer
Maybe they were right and I should’ve known better
We’re stray, we’re stray, we’re stray
Can we just rewind back?
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Stream: “Stray” – The Mysterines
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© Steve Gullick
© Steve Gullick
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