Moodring have kicked off 2022 in style by unveiling a brand new single — the soaring mini-epic “Disintegrate.”
Almost one year to the day since the Florida quartet revealed themselves to the world with debut single “Show Me The Real You,” new single “Disintegrate” marks the first new Moodring music recorded since their signing to UNFD, and showcases an ascendance to the next plane of their songcraft. Shimmering guitars swirl, shift, and pulse around lead vocalist Hunter Young‘s ethereal yet impassioned melodies, building to a climax that will raise every hair of anyone with a heartbeat.
“The sound of Moodring derives from an eclectic mix of genres, but it’s when we can contrast these differences within one song that we really thrive, and I think this track is a key example of that,” says vocalist Hunter Young. “On the surface, the song is this beautiful, epic ‘gazer.’ But lyrically, it delves into much heavier subjects, such as the hopelessness one can feel when everything you pursue seems constantly out of your grasp, and the nihilistic tendencies that I think everyone can lean into at times. Everyone has regrets, but it is regret for the things we did not do that is truly inconsolable.”
Moodring’s artistic tendency toward contrast and juxtaposition is rooted in more than just the crumbling of walls between musical genres, with their lyrics offering up an existential commentary on the peaks and troughs of life itself. As Young further elaborates, “The human experience can be both beautiful and terrifying, simple yet incredibly complex, and ultimately, it’s entirely human to feel unsure if you want to participate in any of it. Sometimes, the only escape you can find is in a daydream. “Disintegrate” is the soundtrack of both the conflict and the daydream.”
ABOUT MOODRING:
Forged in a furnace of experience, experimentation and existential crisis, Moodring are an entity orbiting a lone, core ambition: to create music with no ceiling.
“I grew up on the alternative bands of the 1990s,” says frontman Hunter Young. “No matter what new interests might come and go, I am forever drawn back to the classic albums of that era; they feel larger than life, not bound to a fad or trend — timeless. That’s what we aspire to with our band, to create songs that can transcend any scene.”
Between them, the members of Moodring — Young, guitarist Sean Dolich, drummer Lindy Harter, and bassist Kalan Blehm — have a musical rap sheet longer than any of them care to recall. Yet, despite all this musical promiscuity, it wasn’t until May of 2019 that they finally found the vehicle that could carry forth their most authentic creative selves.
“We were searching for the sound in our heads,” says Young. “In modern life, we all struggle to stop, to be still; I know that there are few things that can hold my attention for very long. But when we are writing music for Moodring, we feel a different level of focus. Once we’d tapped the right vein, the sound just started to gush from us.”
Moodring’s Eureka moment came with “Gasoline.” A driving slab of rhythm guitars and atmospheric leads topped by moody, ethereal vocals, the song freed the dragon that Young had been chasing. And, cage unlocked, the songs which comprise debut EP Showmetherealyou burst forth. Moodring were born.
“Our band name is effectively a disclaimer,” reveals Young. “Moodring is not easily defined; our sound can and will change, morph and evolve, even across the course of a single song. Our identity is genre-fluid.”
A deep blue cocktail of shoegaze and grunge, rock and metal, Showmetherealyou is the zenith of many years of trial and error, angst and anguish, at last oscillating in perfect harmony with a collectively unfettered passion and drive.
“Lyrically, Moodring is pure teenage angst,” Young reveals, speaking of deeply personal vignettes which hint at toxic relationships and cycles of abuse. “When people contact me via the Moodring page and tell me something like, ‘I relate to this,’ I legitimately feel bad for them. I’m like, ‘Fuck, I’m sorry, I really wish you didn’t.’ But, in my experience, that is how human beings relate to each other, through misery.”
Originally self-released in early 2021, the Showmetherealyou EP was reissued August 4 via Moodring’s new label home UNFD. Its original tracklist was further bolstered by brand new cut, “Empty Me Out.” A thundering attack of discordant guitars over pulsing grooves, built around a soaring chorus refrain, which is somehow equal parts melancholy and triumph, “Empty Me Out” showcases a nastier, darker dimension of the band, as the band further find their feet — and their fangs.
MOODRING ARE:
Hunter Young — Vocals/Guitar/Production
Sean Dolich — Guitar/Backing vocals
Kalan Blehm — Bass
Lindy Harter — Drums
