The gloomy, alt-pop artist showcases her velvety voice in "NOW," a stunning alt-pop jam.
The heady track is intoxicating from start to finish, but the track takes charge when the chorus hits. Grungy and booming synths come to play while Mothica sings the poignant line, "Don't get too close to me, you won't like what you see." It's subtle and understated in a way that exceeds the expectations of today's alt-pop.
On the single Mothica says, "NOW is a good introduction to my next era, because it started as a freestyle in the recording studio, so I didn't think too hard about it. I didn't write out lyrics beforehand, I just pulled from my subconscious and leftover phrases from the graveyard of past demos. 'It's not my fault, it's my fight' embodies what message I wanted to get across with my music. I was born with mental illness and I choose to battle it every day. For the first time, I felt compelled to write a full-length project about my struggles and try to better myself in the process."
Mothica’s vulnerability is one of my favorite things about her as an artist. In all of her music, her voice and her storytelling is true and transparent. I admire the strength she has in her music. This song, in particular, struck a chord or with me. Lines like “it’s not my fault / it’s my fight” have such power and poetry. The concept of having all of your walls up and not letting people see the real you is universal. I think everyone has that fear, what if someone you love sees what you find ‘ugly’ about yourself, what if they don’t like what they see when they get close? This track shines a light on those walls and breaks down the feeling of vulnerability by making listeners feel less isolated within their own experience. Well done.
Mothica is the audio/visual project of Oklahoma born McKenzie Ellis. Ellis moved to Brooklyn, NY in 2013 with a scholarship to Pratt University for visual web programming. Amidst the school chaos, McKenzie worked on music as a side-project/cathartic release from her rigid school assignments. After her first Soundcloud release, "Starlight" (prod. by melodrama), garnered over 100K streams in less than 24hrs, she sought to pursue music more ambitiously.
Mothica's self-produced EP, Mythic (2015), received rave reviews and put her on tastemakers radar. Her track "No One," reached the #6 spot on Spotify's US Viral Charts and her hit-single "Clear," garnered the attention of everyone (from Teen Vogue to Spotify execs) and is now sitting at over 14M streams on Spotify.
Mothica's since released 2 more EP's, Heavy Heart (2017) and Ashes (2018). Now she returns with her first release from her forthcoming debut album, Blue Hour.
She explains, "I had the song title 'Blue Hour' in my notes from 2015. It was the first-ever song title idea I had, but I never could find the right place for it until now. Blue hour is the time of day when the sky is painted a deep, rich shade of blue right before sunrise and after sunset. Everything feels so surreal and cinematic, but it only lasts for twenty minutes. It's a fleeting transition from dark to light that I've been looking for in other people, relationships, drugs, alcohol, sex, food, and fantasy.
I started writing songs when I was in the thick of my depression, self-medicating with drugs and alcohol while desperately seeking a way out. I worked on myself, I started exercising, I found group therapy, and I wrote songs constantly. Something radically shifted in me, and I was given the gift of perspective. I got sober during the writing of this album. Being able to share my honest, raw emotions in the recording studio truly saved my life. I've never felt so connected to my purpose as I have with all the music I'm releasing next. This is my blue hour."
Review by Hannah Schneider