When you spot that on the artwork the track’s title is followed by the phrase ‘melancholia on the horizon’ you’re not exactly going to be expecting an upbeat indie-pop tune. You get exactly what Little Illusion Machine promise; a delicious slice of darkness that wouldn’t sound too out of place if Nick Cave were on vocal duties.
With a sinister, almost cartoon Halloween style to it the tracks lurks in the shadows occasionally springing into action for a ghoulish guitar/drum series of hits. My personal favourite lyric is finding out that there’s someone who spits fire in the rain – just from a scientific perspective I’d love to find out how on earth this would work. I can’t get the image of Vincent Price dancing to ‘Thriller‘ out of my head while listening to this (I know he only did the voice at the end, please no more complaint letters…) and it all seems a tad tongue-in-cheek. Maybe that’s not what they meant with this tune but, from me, that’s a genuine compliment.
Mixing clever lyrical twists – obviously, they’re Mancunian – with catchy rhythms this ones slides in perfectly for these long dark nights. Just be careful for men in cloaks as you roam the streets tonight.
We Close Tonight 