With their forthcoming debut album, Salt Lake City quartet The Mellons have crafted a unique bent on dreamy baroque pop, one tinged with offbeat instrumental palettes, gently lulling nostalgia, and taut pop hooks. These come together in a colourful symphonic reverie on their upcoming debut, fittingly titled “Introducing…The Mellons”.
The full record is out on September 16th via Earth Libraries, but the band have been teasing the album since last year with their singles “Salad Made of Butterflies” and “So Much To Say.” Now they’re back with their third single and their first of this year, “What A Time To Be Alive” along with an accompanying video .
“What A Time To Be Alive” leans completely into the band’s love for ‘60s psych pop, recalling the symphonic beauty of records like “Pet Sounds” married with an irresistible pop sensibility. The track’s bouncing bassline, sharp rhythm, warm harmonies, and earworm hook will all have it revolving in your head for weeks to come.
Meanwhile, the accompanying video, directed by the band’s own Andrew Beck, plays like a combination of Sesame Street and The Beatles, with the band performing in a fantasy full of bubbles, psychedelic colours, and puppets.
Speaking about the song, Andrew Beck says, “It all started with that bass line. Also, I was drawn to the phrase “what a time to be alive” because it is a bipolar statement. Depending on how you say it, it could either be a sincere statement on how exciting life currently is, or a sardonic statement about how terrible things are. I was working on this song during the beginning of the pandemic and it was, as dickens put it “ it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” A global plague, the Trump administration, race riots, but also at the same time, new love, musical breakthroughs, and spiritual awakenings perhaps like nothing I had ever felt. Perhaps some of my lowest lows and highest highs. Life is absurd, and perhaps sometimes we need to remember that just because something is painful doesn’t mean it can’t be joyful.”
“The song is a true Mellons group effort. I wrote the bones of it and the hook, Rob wrote the verse melody and lyrics, Ian added that tasty, tasty beat, and Denney and I produced the rest of it ourselves. It has more musical layers than we are comfortable talking about: There’s piano, violin, guitar, euphonium, trumpet, and even a typewriter in the mix.”
“The mood is ‘floating down the lazy river towards the gates of the apocalypse.’ The song has a blend of whimsical naivete and sardonic commentary in that the lyrics can be taken two ways. (I am a gemini after all.) There’s also a hidden Sleeping Beauty reference in the song.
“Introducing…The Mellons” is out September 16th via Earth Libraries.
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