Single Review: Bellhop - Alone (2022)
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| Picture Credit: Bellhop / Jodie Kirkland |
Bellhop - Alone
Release Date: April 29, 2022
Label: Squinked Records
Format: Digital
Duration: 03:23
Genre: Stoner Grunge / Garage Rock
Origin: Melbourne, Australia
Seventeen months have passed since the EP "Lemon in my Eyes" was released by Bella Watson (drums) and her brother Harry Watson (guitar and vocals). The duo is also known under the band name Bellhop, and they now have burst back into our sound systems with their burning hot new single 'Alone'.
The song whose title is a gentle tribute to Melbourne's local band Enola was born during the times of lockdown and covid-related isloation. Guitarist and vocalist Harry has processed his impressions of being locked in, unable to leave his room in the song. And thereby, he has not only musicked the experience that many people made due to the pandemic. This isolation that coined the content of 'Alone' furthermore stands for the feeling of a whole generation - a whole generation that has gotten used to being disconnected from the real world, with a DSL modem as their only way to communicate.
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| Picture Credit: Bellhop / Jodie Kirkland |
The song's introduction is a dark set of single notes on the guitar that reminds of drops slowly but steadily dripping from above and thereby driving the recipient mad. As the drums join, the isolation-caused madness bcomes more obvious in the soundscape, and the vocals emphasize this emotional and desolated Alternative Rock theme. Bellhop put more and more weight into the sound, but not without letting the structure of 'Alone' depict the circular up and down of manic depression or bipolarity. And then, at its climax, the song erupts into a Sabbath-like Stoner and Garage Rock theme. After this motif which reminds of clarity or even a sort of happiness, the song goes back to the main riff, and therefore lets the narrative turn back to the same old same-old of isolation, madness, mental issues.
Bellhop impressively musick the feeling that many people had to witness over the last years - be it due to pandemic-related isolation, or isolation as a feature of our time. Less than three-and-a-half minutes are enough for the duo to create an astonishing piece of art that does not only thematize mental health in the 21st century, but also is defined by an amazing arc of suspense and thrilling Rock music.
Bellhop Online:
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Bandcamp
Spotify
Music from this release has been added to the following dynamic playlists:
MangoRotation
The Mango 100: Garage / Surf
The Mango 100: Indie & Alternative
The Mango 100: Stoner & Desert
Sound of Australia: The Mango 100
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