Aug 9

Aug 9 All about 'The Boys' by Lisa Mitchell

Lisa Mitchell has just released her new single The Boys. Mitchell recorded her first album 'Wonder' at the age of 18; the indie-folk nature of the music, lyrics and Mitchell's airy voice seemed to give the impression that she was a musical equivalent of a 'Manic Pixie Dream Girl'.

Listening back now, the release has a sense of precociousness associated with it. She followed this up with the 2012's Bless This Mess, which introduced more post-production elements, creating anthemic folk-inspired pop.

In 2014, Mitchell released the single Wah Ha, which was at the time, the first preview of her upcoming album. The minimalist track featured little percussion and guitars, with Lisa seeming to sing about the effort required to 'feel okay';

"I Spend all my day trying to be okay / But okay comes and goes / and I feel like I'm holding, I feel like I'm holding on a little too strong".

At the time I remember the track evoking sentiments of an existential crisis or ego-death, and I was really interested to hear whether this theme or feeling would be revisited in the album.

Fast forward to 2016 and no album eventuated from Wah Ha, but instead we are greeted with another single from an album that WILL be released. The Boys released by a now 26 year old Mitchell does away with guitars and piano, (something I've come to associate closely with her music) and is instead replaced with the new-meta of pop- electronic production.

The track and accompanying video are very nostalgic, almost as if Mitchell is remembering past feelings. From the video it seems it is the fondness of "Driving in cars with the boys", which as a boy I can relate to and say "yeah it's pretty sick...". However, it is the darker side to this track that intrigues me, the overall grim, dreary visuals of the video, and the repeated line of "I think that I'm begninning to care", which I'm interpretting as something threatening the jovial feelings associated with The Boys, and making Mitchell feel differently; darker.

Generally, I think the thematic elements throughout Mitchell's career have ultimately mirrored her age and maturity, and as someone who is entering their mid-20's and is starting to feel the impending sense of "this is where I stand", I'm looking forward to hear what a mature Lisa Mitchell is going to bring us in her upcoming LP Warriors.