Yet again Mike Bee and the Dead Soldiers storm into your consciousness with an explosion of sounds and riffs and lyrical outbursts. The intensity of this track is somewhat overwhelming. The strings featured throughout seem at times to be completely and lovingly entwined, and yet at other times they appear to be entirely at war. The music is experimentally alternative in every possible way, almost like a stream of consciousness; the sound of art just pouring out from the soul. The longer it plays, the more involved you feel, and the more emotion and depth you start to notice.
The track very beautifully evolves from a chaotic and rather epic soundscape, to something very sensitive and accessible – something that is suddenly very human, full of feeling, and very much in tune with your own presence and thoughts in this moment. It’s such an unusual effect, and it’s exactly the sort of thing that you quickly learn to adore about the music of Mike Bee and the Dead Soldiers. The EP in it’s entirety is a musical experience unlike any other.
Won’t Walk Away creates perhaps the biggest sound of the project, in terms of the instrumental involvement; the complex network of sounds and melodies. And much like with Despise The Lie, you soon become intrigued and compelled by the lyrics that are initially fairly hidden – themselves a tad submerged in the ocean of music around them. As soon as you notice those words, your mind gets to work, you strive to listen harder, more intently, making sure not to miss anything important. And sure enough, you find yourself completely and willingly drenched in this music, wondering about each and every idea that is mentioned, and trying to relate it to something that you yourself have thought or experienced.
It’s a very powerful and unusual effect, definitely not the sort of music you’d want to leave on just quietly in the background. It’s music that needs to be listened to, properly. In the same sort of way that an intricately detailed painting requires much more than a passing glance; to truly notice every little moment of brightness and wonder. You can listen halfheartedly if you wish to, the music will still stand out in it’s uniqueness – but you have to spend a little time with it to really appreciate the building blocks that made it what it is.
Listen to and read the write-ups for Despise The Lie, Black Sun, Walkerswood, and Take It Back. Grab your copy of the EP over on CDBaby.
