Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat
Failure released new song titled “Mulholland Dr.” via Rolling Stone. The single is off of the group’s upcoming album, The Heart Is A Monster which is set for release on June 30.
The Heart Is A Monster is the first album released by Failure since 1996. At the time, their album Fantastic Planet did not spark the buzz that the group had expected. That in combination with the rampant drug use between all three members led to the untimely split of the band in 1997. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Ken Andrews explains that the reunion of the group in 2014 had been “hugely gratifying.”
“It’s crazy, actually,” Andrews begins. “I’m still shocked at how effortlessly we were able to get back to that creative space, and work together as if nothing had happened. And the other thing is, everybody totally gets us now. I mean, we had a really hard time with the press in the Nineties; it was like, no one really got what we were trying to do — and if they did, it wasn’t a major outlet. And now, it’s literally 180 degrees. We just came back from the U.K., and we did a lot of press over there, and I’ve literally never felt more musically understood in my entire career. People not only get Fantastic Planet, but they also get how this album relates to it, and the subtleties of the differences. So yeah, it is hugely gratifying.”
“Mulholland Dr.” begins with a slow build up led by vocals intertwined with the piano. Roughly one minute into the song, the drum line drops, but the steady melody introduce in the beginning of the song continues. Various harmonies and rhythms reminiscent of groups like the Beatles rings out until the end of the song where a darker guitar chords interrupt the seemingly peaceful melody.
Andrews reflects on “Mulholland Dr.” during his interview with Rolling Stone:
“To me, “Mulholland Dr.” is kind of the sister song to “The Nurse Who Loved Me” on Fantastic Planet. It was a fairly intact demo that Greg brought in, and it stuck out to me as something I could really sink my teeth into, in terms of producing and singing on it. With a lot of our songs, it’s not that easy to track what our direct influences are, but that one is not one of those songs. Someone was even yelling out in the crowd the other night, “Play that Pink Floyd Beatles song!” It’s also late-Sixties Beach Boys, too. It’s really that triangle of awesomeness, basically. And then, production-wise, there’s a little bit of Flaming Lips in there; some of the drums are in homage to the stuff Steven [Drozd] did in the Lips.”
Failure will begin their summer 2015 tour in July. Check out Failure’s new single “Mulholland Dr.” below. Any additional updates and information on the band can be found on their official website.
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