SINGLE REVIEW: Hung Up by The Mysterines
It's no secret that here at the Coven, we worship The Mysterines - and they're not afraid to keep giving us even more reasons to convert completely. Their brand new single, Hung Up, was released yesterday, along with the news that their debut album Reeling will (finally) be released on the 11th of March 2022. If all that weren't enough to get you hot under the collar, the Liverpool quartet have announced they'll be heading back out on tour in March and April next year.
Hung Up is our second taste of the debut album, after the deliciously devilish In My Head was released earlier this year. Immediately tearing through your eardrums with a hefty, fuzzy riff - our favourite kind, naturally - the new track wastes no time in establishing its dominance as a stomping, post-grunge anthem. Frontwoman, icon, and rock n roll goddess Lia Metcalfe's dangerously brooding vocals are dripping with lustful vengeance as she effortlessly takes down a relationship that's slowly and painfully running its course. Lia explains, "Hung Up is pretty self explanatory and I intended it to be that way. It’s also a very revengeful song.”
The Mysterines are proving themselves to be a force to be reckoned with in the UK rock scene. Our first holy encounter with them was during Royal Blood's 2019 tour where they were supporting, and since then they've opened for The Amazons and Sea Girls. Barely out of their teens, they sold out their first ever UK headline tour in February 2020, as well as headlining the BBC Introducing Stage at Reading and Leeds.
Debut album Reeling was created under the watchful eye of acclaimed producer Catherine Marks (who's worked with the likes of Wolf Alice) over three weeks, in between lockdowns at Assault & Battery studios in London. The tracks were recorded live to make sure their intensity was captured in its rawest form, and from what we've heard so far, they've done a bang-up job.
“It’s a pretty ambiguous title for most people, but for me ‘Reeling’ sums up every emotion of the album in just one word,” says Lia. “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do,” she explains. Grief, self-destruction and heartache run heavy on the record, but with a vein of dark humour pumping throughout. Life’s A Bitch was actually meant to be the first single, “but it turns out I say ‘bitch’ too much on it,” chuckles Lia.
If you've seen The Mysterines at any of their recent shows, you'll have heard a lot of the new songs already - from the grunged-up country vibes of Old Friends, Die Hard to the more carefree On The Run, which is Lia’s unique take on the tale of the teenage runaways in Terrence Mallick’s iconic Badlands. Then there’s the more sinister Under Your Skin and Stooges-esque The Bad Thing, of which Lia says: “It’s the most fun to play, and the words I find really funny as well – I’m digging someone up from the grave that I used to love.” This is a band that have turned darkness into an art form, manipulating ordinary lyrical themes into an extraordinarily chilling and alluring sound that is, and can only be, The Mysterines.
The gang kick off their headline UK tour next week, and have also announced a slew of headline shows for March and April 2022 to celebrate the debut’s release - get your tickets here!
2021
Oct 13 - The Trades Club, Hebden Bridge (SOLD OUT)
Oct 14 - The Garage, London (SOLD OUT)
Oct 20 - O2 Academy, Leicester
Oct 21 - The Crescent, York (SOLD OUT)
Oct 22 - The Key Club, Leeds (SOLD OUT)
Oct 23 - Club Academy, Manchester
Oct 28 - The Mash House, Edinburgh (SOLD OUT)
Oct 29 - St Doms, Newcastle
Oct 30 - O2 Academy, Liverpool
2022
Mar 18 - Ulster Sports Club, Belfast
Mar 19 - The Workmans Club (Basement), Dublin
Mar 23 - G2, Glasgow
Mar 24 - Social, Hull
Mar 25 - Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
Mar 26 - Mash, Cambridge
Mar 30 - Band On The Wall, Manchester
Mar 31 - Castle & Falcon, Birmingham
Apr 1 - Electric Ballroom, London
Apr 2 - Invisible Wind Factory, Liverpool
Listen to Hung Up on Spotify and Apple Music
Review by Courtney Myers
Photography by Steve Gullick
