London band Tempesst recently announced that their debut album Must Be A Dream will be coming out on September 30, and today they’ve shared a second single from it called “Mushroom Cloud”. The band’s singer Toma Benjamin introduces us to the new beauty, saying:
“Mushroom Cloud isn’t my story, though I found it easier to write this song as a confession from the perspective of the antagonist. It’s equal measures apology, justification and threat, the kind of confusing grey area that only exists within intimate relationships. It’s love that becomes all-consuming and suffocating. It’s that destructive primal default buried deep within each of us. The Saboteur present in every moment of regret…that will do or say anything in an attempt at self preservation.”
Tempesst’s “Mushroom Cloud” is appropriately named; this is a song about destructive ego and contempt, but take a step back from it, and there’s no denying the sheer beauty of the thing. A languid guitar strum ushers us through the song, but “Mushroom Cloud” soon blossoms with subtle electronics and choral harmonies on the key line: “Sometimes I get carried away in the moment.” Benjamin is embodying an arrogant sophisticate, the world golden and warm all around him – but he can’t help letting his personality become overwhelming, which pushes his lover away, leaving him alone and wistful. All of these powerful feelings are wrapped up in Tempesst’s picture perfect songwriting, replete with saxophone solos and a space-rock finale that captures this explosive combination of impulses gorgeously.
Tempesst’s debut album Must Be A Dream is out September 30 on Pony Recordings. You can follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
