Releasing their latest track ‘Rise and Fall of America’, the Moods concoct a restless track that strays far from the shores of easy listening.
Moulding hip-hop, dubstep, drum ‘n’ bass and jungle, the 9-piece band certainly create a unique and hectic sound between them. Though the many influential genres can be distinguished throughout the music, it seems that the band have taken the most notorious parts of each genre that unfortunately don’t work too effectively once put together. By combining genres that are already busy in themselves, the track becomes overloaded with busy, conflicting elements.
The whole song is in adrenaline-fuelled from start to finish and with a lack of contrasting sections, the music doesn’t offer you much time to wrap your head around its bustling energy. From a typical hip-hop record scratch opening the song, straight away brash, brassy synths make themselves very apparent, utilising tones that almost make them feel out of tune. Over the synths, the vocalist’s tracks overlap one another, and would this have been played over calmer synth tones, would have worked more impactfully but instead just adds to the tracks restlessness.
The verses see accent-heavy, cleverly written rapping from the vocalists over the persistent brash synthesisers and drumbeats, where only the snare seems to be punchy enough to shine through leaving the rest of the rhythm section drowned out by the synth. In the chaotic mix there is the addition of a trumpet which also falls victim to the heavy synth tones as the combined sounds feel out of tune by clashing with one another.
As a whole, the song would feel a lot more accessible if it wasn’t for the piercing synth tones played consistently through the track, as it diverts your attention from the music and affects the tonality of everything else. If a smoother tone was used or even the track was turned down in different sections to create some contrast, the song would allow the other creative elements to shine through. The creative ideas are definitely there in the band, but the execution has just missed the mark slightly this time.
It’s just my opinion, I encourage you to make your own mind up and check out this hardworking band.