With this most recent single release, the third from the latest album, from Auckland alternative music makers, Mecuzine, comes a change in direction as to how they wish to send their music out into the world. The singles from their previous album, Cutting Stings, were all released, as you would expect, through the regular social media and internet sharing platforms. We all know which ones they are. We all know how little they reward those who make the very music that their livelihood depends on.
Knowing this, for their next album, Preset, Reset, which will see the light of day later in the year, they have decided to take back control and have opted to use only SoundCloud, Bandcamp and YouTube, systems which might not make them rich, but which at least don't make others so at their expense. It's a small step. It is a necessary step. It is how revolutions start.
What hasn't changed is the band's ability to create intriguing music, music which falls pretty much into the alternative and outer fringes of the alternative sound. Illusions offers a melancholic sense of hope with the parting of two people. Where a journey's end has come but the experiences gained has left both parties stronger and wiser. Loose and languid grooves and sparing beats drive the track as it balances rock and roll weight and a more shimmering, indie vibe. As with their previous single, Blue Skies, Mecuzine is great at building a wonderful combination of chilled atmosphere and rising tension, world-weary deliveries and beguiling, delicate musical lines as they weave their sound together into slow-burning, dynamic journeys
This duo has always been about integrity and authenticity, certainly in their music. And now, with their decision to take a more grassroots stance on their releases, they have stepped up even further from their already honest modus operandi. And it is a move which people should be supporting, a move which if embraced widely enough across the industry will help return some of the power to those who actually make the music. Check them out because of their principled position but stick around because the music is both original, deftly crafted and forward-thinking.
https://soundcloud.com/user-878726070/illusions/s-qyLiy1xVMwa