EASY KILL still come from Manchester England. They consist of Theo Tobias Ronan Clowes Alex Howes Andrew Keaveney and Thomas Short. ‘Guilt Trip To The Moon’ is the third single to be taken from 'Melanscholar' their debut album which was released on fierce panda last September and it follows on the hazy heels of lead-off track ‘Phantom Pain’ and second single ‘Constant Hum’.
The narrative arc of the ‘Melanscholar’ album is said to follow the journey of a lost soul trying to find its bearings in the afterlife. Unsurprisingly then ‘Guilt Trip To The Moon’ follows its singular predecessors in the haunted stakes rattling along with synthetic surges and gloomily sympathetic melodic urges.
“It’s a moody night drive song where the jangly guitars reflect the glowing moon and the self-deprecating lyrics semi-seriously contemplate the theme of guilt (in all its pointlessness) ” explains singer Theo not unreasonably. “The video explores this theme by following a guilt-ridden man driving himself further into the depths of deprived insanity after accidentally reversing over his own dog.”
The EASY KILL sound has been half-chokingly labelled ‘doom-pop’ a term which highlights the duality underpinning their music wherein quiet thoughtful lulls are followed by louder moments of uplift or down-spiral. This angsty theme has been carefully honed in Easy Kill’s previous releases the ‘Already Entitled’ EP (2015) and the ‘Sermons’ EP (2016). But it hits a whole new creative apogee with the 'Melanscholar' project which sees EASY KILL running with the concept of life in the afterlife.
With its spectral synthetic layers and perplexed vocals ‘Melanscholar’ is an unfathomably LOVELY record; modern and maudlin like a woeful Foals blended with sad-faced post-Alt-J japery. But this is an album which is also aware of the ghosts of the past infused at is with the spirit of Talk Talk while at one point in ‘The Lake’ they sound like an ethereal 10CC. They’re not in love. So don’t forget it…