After charting a course for the release of their upcoming EP ‘TV Bliss’ with ‘Stars Align’, Phoenix alternative duo MRCH now share the follow-up single ‘Easiest To Bend’, along with the track’s official video. The duo have primed a cult following of those-in-the-know following shows with bands such as CHVRCHES, Foster The People and Blood Red Shoes.
‘Easiest To Bend’ sees MRCH’s shoegaze-tinged dream pop becoming ever hazier, with shimmering waves of distorted guitars buzzing around Mickey Pangburn’s hushed, reverb-heavy topline and celestial vocal harmonies. Its hallucinatory ambience is equalled by its crunching dynamics, ensuring that its sonic contrasts possess an edge in keeping with the complex emotions of its lyrics.
Mickey says, “Love is probably the most thrown-around word. It really just means vulnerability to me though. And it’s difficult to not treat vulnerability as a weakness. It’s super hard to not put up walls of protection. Easiest to Bend is about the courage and strength of being imperfectly, honestly, vulnerable. So here we go throwing the word love into yet another chorus, but, we LOVE it.”
The ‘Easiest To Bend’ video captures Mickey and drummer Jesse Pangburn through a prism of double-exposed violet filters, again magnifying the ethereal rush of their music. Directed and edited by MRCH and filmed by Montag Media, the visual pays tribute to The Primitives’ ‘80s indie favourite ‘Crash’, with Mickey’s enigmatic moves feeling like one of the late Julee Cruise’s eerily beautiful performances at The Roadhouse in ‘Twin Peaks’.
Watch the official video for ‘Easiest To Bend’ – BELOW:
Arriving three years after their previous ‘No-Holds-Barred’ EP, the upcoming ‘TV Bliss’ represents a brave new era for MRCH. The duo delved deeper into collaboration, first developing demos with the help of Jimmy Eat World’s Jim Adkins, and then bringing creative more voices into play with mixing from the Grammy-nominated Tony Hoffer (Depeche Mode, Metric, Chromeo) and mastering by Dave Cooley (Wolf Alice, Tame Impala, Paramore). Its lyrical themes and visual aesthetic were inspired by Mickey’s childhood memories of being lost in the escapism of television – something which has been reflected with previous MRCH tracks featuring in Shameless’, ‘Guilt’, ‘The Vampire Diaries’, ‘Famous in Love’, ‘Search Party’, ‘13 Reasons Why’ and ‘The Twilight Zone’.
Mickey and Jess met at a music store in Arizona. While their backgrounds at that point were polar opposite (Mickey as a singer-songwriter, Jesse in the world of prog-metal), their differences became a strength – not only in regards to their genre backgrounds, but also their personalities: Mickey always wanted to make an emotional connection, while Jesse loved experimentations with new sounds. They both studied jazz in Phoenix, before shared influences such as Cocteau Twins, New Order, Metric, Phantogram, St. Vincent, Purity Ring and Beach House led to the formation of MRCH. Now ‘TV Bliss’ is set to take them further than ever before.
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