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New EP Off Malaise out now on SideOneDummy.
Balancing beauty and anger, hope and despair, tension and release, Finnish trio messier’s exhilarating debut, ‘On Malaise,’ is an explosive mix of indie rock, alt-pop, and classic punk energy fueled by instantly memorable hooks and airtight vocal harmonies. The trio’s songs walk a tightrope between gritty aggression and delicate sensitivity, tackling disappointment and disillusionment with sharp insight and sardonic wit, and their performances are similarly bold and unpredictable, oscillating between moments of raucous chaos and reflective tranquility. Though messier—singer/guitarist Lauri Huumonen, bassist Antti Orajärvi, and drummer Kristian Jokilahti—hails from Helsinki, the roots of ‘On Malaise’ stretch back to America, where Huumonen was inspired to begin writing the album while studying abroad during the 2016 election. The hyper-partisan political atmosphere and widespread social unrest proved to be fertile creative ground, and the result is an intoxicating collection shot through with pure adrenaline, a fierce, fiery record that works its way from paralyzing despair to empathetic compassion as it embraces the full range of the human experience in all of its rough and ragged glory.
