ALBUM REVIEW: Mothica – Nocturnal . The second album from popular alt.pop artist MOTHICA is menacing and captivating but a little too sprawling.
There is a lot on the line for any artist’s second album as the follow-up to the successful first, but Mothica wasn’t hesitant to jump the gun creatively with her concept album Nocturnal (releasing via her own imprint with Rise Records, Heavy Heart Records). Nocturnal focuses on the gloomy fallout and search for fresh meaning, while her last album Blue Hour examined the maturational stage of sobriety. She took a chance with an unusual album format, one that ultimately paid out for her, with a whopping seventeen tracks, three interludes, and an introduction.
The album has multiple instances of the antagonist, the Mothman, speaking in a lo-fi, film noir-like voice, including during each intermission. It intensifies the record’s eerie atmosphere by personifying the intrusive thoughts that drive Mothica to harm herself. The character expresses the deceitful games these thoughts can play while being comfortable and inviting in appearance.
The opening tune, “Sleepwalk,” serves as a prologue and takes place within a lucid dream-like scene. As though quietly refusing to confront reality and choosing to stay in the comfort of her fantasy, Mothica sings lulling melodies that conjure up beautiful recollections of a lost love. The album’s ominous tone is set with the title track, which serves as her abrupt return to reality. She sings of putting up a front while she sleepwalks through the day, only to show her true colors at night while still vulnerable and awake.
While the earworm chorus of “Lullaby” will certainly reverberate on in your head until you fall asleep, the sad yet danceable “Sensitive” puts lyrics about being an especially sensitive introvert to an entrancing beat. The energetic lead single “Casualty” demonstrates another side of Mothica’s potential by incorporating more rock influences while retaining the murky electronic and alternative pop tone. Feel the anguish and then kill it twice, I won’t be a casualty, No, I won’t go down like that. This intensity is employed appropriately for a song written as a promise to not die by suicide or drug overdose, and it is accomplished beautifully.
She does manage to make each track count, despite how few they are, even though I wish more songs were longer than three minutes. In ‘The Reckoning,’ Polyphia guitarist Tim Henson plays some metal-inspired guitar riffs as the competition gets down to the final three. The album ends on a more positive note with “Tears,” which recreates the atmosphere from “Sleepwalk” in the shape of a full-length song. This is immediately followed by gentle acoustic guitar in “Blood,” which swiftly spirals back into mayhem.
Nocturnal is a thorough investigation into a mind that is seeking empowerment while overcoming addiction. This promising sophomore record from Mothica is made possible by the vivid visual that is maintained throughout the entire song.
Buy the album here: https://heavyheart.lnk.to/Nocturnal
