PREMIERE | Full Mood, "Beats Me"
Introducing Nashville duo Full Mood; photographed by Jorge Sierra.
In the wake of a world on pause in suspended motion, this global moment has provided artists to create by way of new approaches, directions and perspectives. As the cracks in society's infrastructure and framework became more apparent than ever before as empires and opportunities of the old antiquated orders crumbled into the rubble of what once was; the failures of these constructs provided new found outlets to operate outside the extents of these tired and toppled traditional conventions. The templates, formulas and foundations of pre-existing orders have largely been traded for crafts that connect to developing feelings, new emotions, new expanses of perceptions, new arrangements and new constructive syntheses.
Indicative of this worldwide innovative push are Nashville duo Full Mood, comprised of Miranda & Nick who have been working on their upcoming redsleep EP slated for tis summer via the imprint Cold Lunch Recordings. On the heels of their recent single “2 U”, Full Mood present the debut for the synth spun ballad “Beats Me” that laments the minutiae of late capitalist frustration and the prohibitive roadblocks at the intersections of aspirations. Their upcoming follow-up to 2019’s understated self-titled EP gem (a record that begins with the world destroying “I Thought I Would Never Fit in My Own Body”) features the two branching out to further experimental arrangements and subscribing toward a more polished economy of production.
“Beats Me” begins with a smoldering torch lit lounge chamber progression with a slow flame burning speed. Full Mood directs an evening moonlit ballad made for the most obscure roadside pubs, venues and peanut shell dusted saloons. Miranda sings out the conundrums of adulting, expectation and the pressures placed upon by the public, family projections and so forth with a sense of woe, weariness, rife with wants and the pangs of exhaustion. The synths and guitar bears gently trickle into the mix that bemoans senses of sorrow all the way up to the two minutes and fifty seconds point in the track. At this juncture the drum machine tempo gets switched up a few notches in concert with the volume and attitude as the maudlin sad stepped pace turns to a skip that trades the frustration and confusion for an unfettered sense of determination. The track teleports the audience to a time-bending privy underground performance in a smoked up subterranean speakeasy space that elegantly sashays neatly into the cranked up clamor of a crescendo that sets forth on a strategic pathway of possibility — teetering on the edge of perdition without looking backward.
Miranda & Nick of Full Mood; photographed by Caroline Bowman
Miranda of Full Mood provided the following thoughts on the making of the new single “Beats Me”:
“Beats Me” came together pretty quickly for us. I was driving around a lake here in Nashville and just started humming a melody that I then recorded as a voice memo on my phone. I showed it to Nick and he added some dreamy synths and a steady beat. From there, I wrote the lyrics.
This song is about trudging through the mundane details of life, waiting for something more meaningful, and finding yourself in a life you’d never really hoped for. When you stop to consider what it is you really do want from life it can be disorienting, and I wanted to capture that in the lyrics. That’s where “Beats Me” comes from. It’s a response to the question of how to play it safe and balance your emotional checkbook. In my experience, trying to keep up with what you’re supposed to have did is a big investment without much return. We reach a breaking point at the bridge. That’s where you can hear the lyric I just want to dance. There’s a mood shift where we’re saying, forget this nonsense, forget the comparisons, we just want to have fun.
The many moods and styles of Full Mood’s Miranda & Nick; press photo by Samantha Gordon.
The song shoots into an 80’s inspired dance beat and the mood opens up into something much bigger. This is our escape from the predictability of going along with expectations. Still we might not know precisely what it is we want from life, but this is our attempt at some self-determination and a chance to finally have some fun.
Full Mood’s ”Beats Me” is the second single from their forthcoming redsleep EP available this summer via Cold Lunch Recordings.