NEW RELEASE: Nocturnal - MOTHICA

 After "Blue Hour" and the "Forever Fifteen" EP, I've stayed very interested in anything Mothica releases. I have watched her career slowly bud from some small scale EPs, to a full confessional about her difficulties in her personal life and making the music that speaks to her.

The album begins with "Sleepwalk", which has a sort of classic tune to it. Very old school. The distortion to the vocals I think somewhat takes away from it. 

Nocturnal gets the usual Mothica sound going. Reminds me a lot of themes from Blue Hour with her alcoholism and self-destruction tendencies.

"Sensitive" was one of the singles, and I liked the concept. It really reflects on her fears and anxieties, and also how anxiety makes you feel so on edge and almost aggressive.

"Highlights" feels like such an accurate description of the world, especially in today's world. We have so many social media feeds making things so "perfect" that people have less tolerance for someone in a less ideal place. They only want the good parts. 

"I" is an interlude. Although because the voice references not sleeping well in "6,337 days" I'd like to note for my curiosity's sake, this is approximately 17 years. That means she hasn't slept well since she was about 10 years old. Why did I do this math? I don't actually know.

Mothica's issues with addictions and such run in her family, and Casualty as a song is about her wanting to break the chains of that and not die of those things as others have. It is meant to be empowering and strong, and it feels kind of cool to come after the interlude that suggests "exhaling the angry tension" from your body.

"Last Cigarette" seems to discuss a toxic up and down relationship, and somewhat her own fault. She tells them to leave before she destroys them.

"Back of My Mind" almost feels a little like filler compared to the rest of the album, but is by no means a bad track.

"II" is another interlude, referencing her being still awake and wanting to escape into unrealistic expectations of love.

"R.E.M" is such a proper depiction of trying to have a functional relationship after having nothing but dysfunction in the past. You want something better but you don't even know how to accept or handle it anymore.

"Bedtime Stories" is realizing you're sabotaging yourself with the fears and realizing you need to grow and allow your heart to love someone else. Your own fairytale ending can exist.

"Lullaby" isn't bad either but falls a little flat compared to the other more emotional tracks.

"III" is another interlude, which discusses acceptance.

"Absinthe" takes us back to the anger of Buzzkill, and how much anger she has in her heart and anger with herself too. A very raw song about drinking poison and expecting another to suffer.

"The Reckoning" is a good song but feels a little choppy vocally. I think it adds some drama to the choice of song style though.

"Blood" relates to her realization that due to all the toxicity she experienced in past relationships, she has now spread some of the toxicity in her own relationships. It takes a lot of self-reflection to realize how you as a hurt person can unintentionally spread your hurt to other innocent people.

The album closes with "Tears", which takes us back to the oldies style of song 1 at the beginning before hitting a different note, and taking a negative thing into a positive by pointing out what her "tears" had created.

Lyrics: 7/10 - Many of the lyrics were compelling and meaningful, but it feels a little flat sometimes. In ways it almost sounds too much like we did not grow much from Blue Hour on specific tracks.

Music: 7/10 - She experimented with some more electronic styles which remind me a bit more of her early EPs, while still keeping some of the pop/punkish style she developed from Buzzkill. Overall it mostly worked.

Overall: 7/10 - I think it is a solid release. I think the album feels a bit bogged down by the strange interludes and the tracklist not working so cohesively with them. I think a shift in parts of the tracklist would make it a stronger and more compelling concept. I definitely recommend listening, especially if you never have before.