Mauritia - Daydreaming (Single Review)
Mauritia have crafted an incredibly infectious beast with harmonic underpinning, dynamic production and a commitment to indie-pop's strengths with their new single Daydreaming
Popping their head out of the wave of 80s confectionery nostalgia which includes bands such as King No-One, Larkins, Luna Bay, and Marsicans. Maurita is equally as vibrant and melody-laden as any of these. With intricate strumming as a not so subtle hat off to funk and absolutely monster chorus seducing you to a dance floor, Mauritia has crafted an incredibly infectious beast. They waste no time with consolidating their arrival by presenting two guitars complementing each other with counter melodies, pounding drums, and a bass weighting all of that from getting carried away. Everything they present throughout feels incredibly calculated and concise, but yet they keep an essence of that all-important energy which makes you want to tap your foot and embarrass yourself with some uncool dance moves.
Although not breaking any new boundaries, the song's familiarity really coagulates a wide net of reference points and highlights Mauritia's pop appreciation. The tried and tested structure Verse, Bridge, Chorus, Verse, Bridge, Chorus, Breakdown, Bridge, Chorus working alongside harmonic underpinning, dynamic production, and a commitment to indie-pop's strengths quite simply make this song snap in the best of ways.
Some would argue that when a song is this upbeat and sugary that the lyrics aren't often the center point (but a melodic filler), but as I do for every review I'm going to analyse them for anyone who wants to peel beneath the surface and really think about what they are listening to. After the initial instrumental passage has hooked you in, Josh delivers the line "the night slips into the aether/as the fever comes into my veins". I'll admit that it has a light sense of poetry about it and the most surprising thing I discovered during my analysis is the possible interpretation that the song is describing addiction. Although I'm not sure how much this was intended, there is some clear parallels to this and There She Goes by The Las lyrically. Both appearing on one level to be telling what appears to be a much lighter story about love and relationships, but upon closer inspection, some much darker connotations can arrive. This is because both songs are delivered vaguely enough that it could quite easily mean something else entirely. Josh finishes the verse by stating "before you know it I'm falling in deeper/I can feel the poison start to fade". Similar sentiments are resurrected in the second verse. Some further lines which indicate to this theory are "the light grips and restricts my lungs as the cold is creeping in again" and "before you know it I'm falling in deeper, I can feel myself start to fade". I wouldn't take my interpretation as gospel, as it might just be an upbeat song to dance too. On the other hand, it could also be a concrete representation of drug addiction, which may appear sugary and fun on the outside with some darker undertones lurking underneath for anyone willing to take a closer look. Finally, some stand out lyrics that caught my attention upon my listening are "pulling teeth despite my grin" and "daybreak is the unsung hero".
Although it doesn't detract too much from the end product, I think it's noteworthy to mention the production is a little on the tinny side which does shallow out the depth of the songs timbre, but other than this the end product is a display of some talented musicians. There is an abundance of small percussion fares that really add some flavor and it's all very bombastic in the best of ways. In fact, in the future, I would love to see Mauritia get even more bombastic and lean into presenting creative rhythms. Maybe take some influence from afro-beat, disco, and funk. Furthermore, my theory on the lyrics might very well be wrong and if it is then I would love to see Mauritia exploring the possibility of presenting deeper and poignant themes and layering them with their sugary coating.
Overall, I would recommend Mauritia's new single. It's a perfectly solid indie-pop fix with 80s nostalgia and bundles of charm.
4/5
For fans of: King No-One, Larkins, Luna Bay, and Marsicans
Listen to the track on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/track/37CL3Qi9qKITIkFs9EAIFL?si=VZTyIJuJTHe2LHt_23eN6Q
Find Mauritia on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/wearemauritia/
- Written by Joshua Ingham