REVIEW: MOTHICA's deluxe edition of Nocturnal off Heavy Heart and Rise records

 

For my season two finale I did a review of the standard edition of Nocturnal which also served as an essay about my own sleep patterns and burnout. With the year end lists coming up I won’t hit you with anything else too personal here seeing as a deluxe edition of the record is delivering an EPs worth of new music from McKenzie Ellis I wanted to think about the four new songs critically as a final review of the year.


The first of the new songs is a new version of “LULLABY” with an added feature from Australian multidisciplinary artist Aviva Payne. Compared to the base song I feel AViVA tries and fails to recreate the magic of the original second verse and comes up short both lyrically and vocally. It's certainly not a feature that draws me to check out a new artist and I feel I was just fine with the original version.


I really enjoy the sentiment of “S.T.A.R.,” which discusses artists being conned into using their pain for fame and fortune until they’re used up, only truly serving those who represent them in the end. That being said, I am a bit torn because while this isn’t my favorite MOTHICA cut it does hit a bit harder than songs like “ABSINTHE” or “HIGHLIGHTS” that are found on the original version of the record and share a similar message but don’t hit as hard as this one. Speaking of; “nothing good happens after 2am” has the exact same idea as “HIGHLIGHTS.” Only this time Ellis is internal and confessional as opposed to confrontational. It’s a nice change of pace on a deep cut that again, I wasn’t that huge on.


On “NIGHTSHIFT” I find myself enjoying a breath of fresh air. Here Ellis provides us a song with a different type of production that doesn’t sacrifice the charm of the record itself.


Like most deluxe records I feel that these could have been implemented on the album itself if they were done beforehand. I wouldn’t have known I like the new version of “LULLABY” less if I never knew of the original. The three new tracks could have grown to be favorites of mine considering I already like them more than some of the cuts I had known all year. I also wish I had known these songs in the context of them being properly sequenced into the record as opposed to just tacked at the end after such a powerful closer. I do, however understand the logistics of a lot of moves like these that artists make even if I don’t wholeheartedly agree with them.


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