By Charlie Maybee
London based hard rock band, The Fires Below, say a lot with very little in their debut single “Normality”. Along with a new music video to commemorate the release, the band is clearly poised for big moves as their ambitions glow brightly like a bushfire.
The music video is simple, just show casing the band’s energy contained in a small white cube. As the lights change to various neon shades to match the mood of any given moment, the tints of red really pop as the natural sense of rage and dissent rises to the top of the song both instrumentally and lyrically.
Though they never fully define what normality means for them personally, the energy has a sort of fed-up attitude that is looking for a radical shift. “It’s nice to get back to some kind of normality”, lead singer, Smithy, growls into the microphone. Throughout the song, this line becomes a mantra of sorts that lends itself to one-word changes that display its versatility. “It’s nice to get back to some kind of society” he sings in the second verse, and “It’s nice to get back to some kind of humanity” for the closing.
Musically, there’s a high dial of punk rock energy that emanates from each power chord as well as the use of stop-time which allows the lyrics and vocals to really pop. The message comes through very clearly as the band uses some pop sensibilities to aim for a sense of clarity. Fully charged and ready to rumble, this is a song (and a band) that is ready to make big moves.
“Normality” is available on major streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. The accompanying music video is also available on YouTube. Find this and more great music on the Alchemical Records Multigenre Mixture playlist on Spotify and YouTube.
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.
