My first encounter with MOTHICA was Shawn Wasabi's remix of the song Clear with Pusher. Besides the reimagination of Can You Feel My Heart from Bring Me The Horizon, I didn't really have her on my radar, and I like to think that this album was essentially a musical find. I believe the only reason I was aware of this record in the first place was because of Rise Records promoting its release.
I didn't know what to expect, especially after seeing the wild tracklist-runtime ratio. I went in hoping for alternative influences and expecting mostly pop, and although I wasn't entirely wrong, I was pleasantly surprised at the tasteful incorporation. Many tracks feature distorted guitars and rock drums alongside catchy melodies and pop-esque song structures. Yet, despite the overall poppy sound, the soundscape and creative design almost feels as if it stemmed from the alternative genres.
She definitely has a knack for choruses that stick around in the head. Between interlude I and III is home to some of the hookiest lines on the record. For an album with 13 actual songs, it's impressive how diverse they are, providing a musical experience that doesn't go stale partway through.
The record concept is wildly immersive, I enjoy the retro aesthetic in all the interludes and the dark overtone reverberating throughout the rest of the songs. It does really well to embody the album title, exploring different aspects of sleep and the night. It also satisfies me a lot that the sections divided by the interludes I to III have a theme, and feel like chapters of a story.
I usually find it hard to love pop records due to the common trap of ending up generic, but I feel that MOTHICA has a perfect mix of alternative influence and melodic ingenuity that sets her aside from the crowd. Her lyrical design, rhythmic choices and innovative melodies are distinctive and exquisite.
I have to give a special spotlight to The Reckoning, the Polyphia feature was a complete surprise to me. I didn't glimpse the tracklist before diving into my first listen, and I was so completely soaked into the music that I didn't look at the titles ta all. When the extravagant riffage came in, I snapped out of the trance and realised it was Polyphia just in time for the riff to drop a full octave lower. It was like a smack in the face and I loved it. Not only is it a wildly different sound for MOTHICA, with it's darker, edgier sound and vocal sideline, it's also a different sound for Polyphia. Already in the aftermath of Playing God, hearing such an electronic sound from them was gorgeous. It felt like they were having fun doing something different from their usual without worrying about high notes-per-minute counts, which I love for them.
Nocturnal is really a pleasant surprise of a record for me. I don't want to discredit MOTHICA for her creativity and hard work, I just haven't had much favourites from the pop side of the music world in so long I've started to lose hope. Fret not, I'll readily accept this as alternative music, as much as I call it pop. I think most of you won't argue with the clear pop elements present in this record, and I just hope most of you can also appreciate the alternative elements that make this record so great. I adore the soundscape and I get so captivated every time I spin this record.
Rating: 8/10
