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SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: MOTHER MOTHER – DANCE AND CRY

Mother Mother

Mother Mother
Dance And Cry
Universal Music

Apathy is checked at the door on Mother Mother’s newest album release, Dance and Cry.  Made up of twelve striking tracks written by lead singer Ryan Guldemond, this album is an emotional and profound addition to Mother Mother’s already stellar catalogue of quirky sound waves.

Fumbling to find a balance between heartbreaking, devastating sadness and a dark, hyper-type of happiness, Dance and Cry is a must-hear album for 2018.  Opening track “I Must Cry Out Loud” combines dissonant instrumentals with deep, mellow vocals that ring out with devastation and heartbreak.  Painted on a canvas of Guldemond’s own heartbreak while writing the album, Mother Mother’s talented and accomplished vocal harmonies showcase this track all the better.

Moving through the album with unparalleled voracity, Mother Mother move through tracks with the goal of making people cry, dance or both.  This is demonstrated no better than on the band’s first album single “Get Up” which shouts “You got dreams but there’s something in between man and you’re stuck there underneath them so get up!”

Interlude track “Biting on a Rose” delicately balances melancholy keyboard with the stunning and gentle vocals of band member Jasmin Parkin who brings loads of her own sadness to the table on the track and stirs something within the listener.

Following up, Mother Mother’s “It’s Alright” is perhaps one of the poppier tracks in their catalogue yet still has that quintessentially freakish beauty that listeners have become accustom to with the band.  Lyrically, this track speaks to coming to terms with one’s own mistakes and looking for validations all the while poetically.

“Back to Life” offers up perhaps the best and darkest track on the album.  With tight guitar, yelling vocals and steep, slow breakdowns, this track binds anger with frenzied requests to be brought back to life followed up by numerous questions.  This is the one track you shouldn’t miss, if any.

So do take a listen as Mother Mother walk the tight rope of pain and pleasure, defeat and triumph, loss and retrieval.



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SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: MOTHER MOTHER – DANCE AND CRY

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Gabrielle Mueller

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About the Author
Gabrielle Mueller
Gabrielle Mueller is a lover of all things music, writing and charcuterie boards. Gabrielle has a particular passion for music of the 1960s and the hippie movement in Toronto’s Yorkville district. Gabrielle runs her own music website, The Hippie Historian, where she reviews concerts, interviews musicians and writes about music history that spans the ages.
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