Sonic Progression and Thematic Stability found in ‘Theme Parks’, Mourning Routine’s latest single.

Mourning Routine’s Lucas Kamal is back with his newest single ‘Theme Parks’, which captures his struggle to find the motivation to keep writing music after releasing his debut EP ‘Hello, From Earth’ last year, during the height of the pandemic.

This newest cut differs sonically from the sound found on his EP - 'Hello, From Earth’ captured the sensation of being stuck in limbo between adolescence and adulthood, whereas ‘Theme Parks’ creates juxtaposition – both thematically and in sound.

Talking ahead of his new release, Kamal said: “I’ve never been more proud of something I’ve written, and I feel like I’ve finally found my musical identity.”

Sonically, the song is highly reminiscent of some of the cuts from the newer Strokes records, as there is a grungy yet coherent style to the song. A chugging baseline, along with some punchy kicks and snappy snares carry most of the heavy lifting for the song.

The intro includes a repeating dreamy guitar riff which is sustained throughout the tune, helping it to feel more grounded. The spacey riff also adds some consistency to the song and only cuts off to add suspense before the chorus is introduced.

Some clever production techniques are used as Lucas doubles the vocals in key parts of the song to emphasise some of the lyrics. There are some grungy effects on the vocals which adds an almost distorted, blown-out feel to the highly emotive lyrics penned by Kamal. The use of the distorted effects on the emotional lyrics adds to the sense of introspectiveness Lucas is trying to convey, “Don’t you realise? / Your state of matter / Holds together / What were meant to be”.

The outro rids away with the familiar kick drums, snares, and riff that are so prominent within the song, and finishes rather subduedly, with a synthesiser delightfully carrying the piece home.

 

Dan Jones

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Image: Provided by the artist