By Charlie Maybee
The Oregon/Colorado based alternative rock band, The Mars McClanes, has officially returned with the release of their saucy new single “Riddle”.
The song leans into the intersection of Latin rhythms and rock music á la Santana – sounding especially similar his collaborations with pop artists like Rob Thomas and Chad Kroger. Off-kilter beats lead the way as sultry vocals and wailing guitars paint the space with plenty of echoing reverb. The chorus makes a shift into a more contemporary alternative rock sound giving the song a distinct signature as it modulates between the two feels and ultimately combines them.
“Riddle is a song about new love” the band writes, “the mysterious new person, and how they make you feel”. With a knack for storytelling that leans somewhat into fantastical, there’s something romantic and vague about the lyrics that allows them to emote without saying very much. “I’m beaming it to you / Those frequencies through you” the lead singer proclaims, “It’s love like a starlet on a drug / I want to say the way you do / and be a riddle for you”
It’s mysterious and alluring without giving too much of itself away with any given line or musical note. There is a sense of withholding that will make you want to stay and hear them out. Whether or not you answer the riddle correctly is not as important as the way it makes you feel as you puzzle it out.
“Riddle” is available on major streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and SoundCloud, and find it on the Alchemical Records Multigenre Mixture playlist on Spotify.
Charlie Maybee is a dancer, musician, educator, and writer based in Charleston, South Carolina who currently teaches with the Dance Program at the College of Charleston. His primary work as an artist is with his performing collective, Polymath Performance Project, through which he makes interdisciplinary performance art that centers tap dance as the primary medium of expression and research. He also currently plays rhythm guitar for the Charleston-based punk band, Anergy, and releases music as a solo artist under the name Nox Eterna.
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Alchemical Records is a Washington, D.C. based music publication. We cover the Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Richmond, VA metro area music scenes, including band interviews, articles about your favorite musicians, new music and concert dates.
