The Mantis Opera - Get Along Single Review
Already well-renowned for their experimental, avant-garde style, “Get Along” is certainly not a break in tradition for the band.
“Get Along” was released on Friday 25th February by the London-based tetrad The Mantis Opera via Full Power Records. The track offers us a tantalising glimpse of their forthcoming EP Broken Glass which, based on this taster, will be very interesting indeed.
Already well-renowned for their experimental, avant-garde style, “Get Along” is certainly not a break in tradition for the band. It is a turbulent and striking cacophony of synth-pop, liberally doused with edgy guitars, a commanding chorus and quixotic, dizzying key and rhythm changes. The resulting track is most intriguing and yet, at the same time, is almost disturbing.
When discussing the track, the band have provided the following insights:
“I guess off the top of my head, this song is about conflict. More specifically, the kind you get online on Twitter etc. How we vilify the "other" like they're some malevolent cog. It could be your neighbour but they may as well live on another planet. I've been recently thinking about how we leave no space for forgiveness anymore, and it's poisoning the well. It makes us mean and callous, makes our circle of empathy grow smaller and smaller…” The track serves as a timely reminder that during what has been an exceptionally challenging, and for many, a very isolating time due to the pandemic that social media can actually be a very fractious and toxic place. They have chosen to blast this misery and negativity away using massive guitar hooks, syncopated rhythms, and synthesisers. I would highly recommend checking out the accompanying video, which was created by Charlie Hawley and Alfie Millar. The constantly-alternating imagery and ever-shifting rhythm perfectly capture the mood of discord and frenzied disenfranchisement.
The Mantis Opera originally began life as a solo project by Allister Kellaway, which over time morphed into a full band back in 2014, comprising currently of Allister Kellaway: Guitar, Electronics, Vocals; Henry Nicholson: Guitar, Keys, Vocals; Louis Crump: Bass, Keys, Vocals; and Ed Bernez: Drums, Pads.
After performing around London, Brighton and Bristol, The Mantis Opera had gained a reputation around the London-gig scene for their distinctive, well-executed live shows that were famed for “bursting with energy and colour.”
Building on this reputation, they played to sold-out audiences at The Windmill and Off The Cuff. They then went on to support - and garnered much praise from in the process - their peers such as Squid, PVA, Goat Girl, Black Midi and Penelope Isles, to name just a few.
They self-released their first EP, Four Movements back in August 2016. Then, in March 2017, the quartet released Reykjavik / Sandcastle via Flying Vinyl. 2019 saw the release of their single “Eden” which was released as part of a split-single cassette with BOSS, via Full Power Records, the label the band currently calls home.
Their next full-length EP Broken Glass will be released both physically and digitally on the 25th of March. Keen to get back out onto the live circuit, the band are scheduled to perform at the award-winning and critically acclaimed ArcTanGent Festival in the South-West on Thursday 19th August at 8pm.