Courtesy: Pavement Entertainment
Roughly four years after the release of its sixth overall recording, veteran rock band Tantric will release its seventh album next month. The 10-song album Mercury Retrograde is scheduled to be released Oct. 5 via Pavement Entertainment, and is an effort worth at least an occasional listen. That is evidenced early on in the album’s second song, ‘Tether.’ This song will be discussed shortly. ‘Letting Go,’ which comes late in the album’s run, is another example of what makes Tantric’s new LP interesting. It will be discussed a little later. The overly saccharine sweet ballad that is ‘My Forever’ is yet another change of pace provided throughout the album, and will be discussed later, too. Each of the songs noted here shows in its own way, the varied musical moods and lyrical themes exhibited in the album. Between those songs and the rest of the works not noted here, the album in whole proves to be worth at least one listen.
Tantric’s forthcoming seventh album Mercury Retrograde is an interesting effort from the veteran rock band. While maybe not the band’s best work, it is still worth at least one listen. That is proven in part early on in the form of ‘Tether.’ This song stands out in part because of its musical arrangement. Its verses present something of an introspective feeling while the chorus sections are more hard-hitting. In listening through the song, including its lyrical content, it’s obviously no accident that the arrangement was established in such fashion. The juxtaposition of those moods precisely mirrors the message in those lyrics as front man Hugo Ferreira sings about letting go of the negativity in one’s life. He sings in the song’s lead verse, “Your smile seems much brighter than before/I know you stay for a while/You’ll never let that window show me more/When the window’s down and you can’t see me anymore/the times that you have doubted me/Can’t be here like before/Sometimes you gotta let it go so you can feel much better/Before the things that hold you down become the devil.” He continues this track as he sings in the song’s second verse, “to me it’s profound/The lack of sound/When I scream for something more…when the window’s down and you can’t see my anymore/Times that you have doubted me can’t be here like before/Sometimes you gotta let it go so you can feel much better/Before the things that hold you down become the devil.” Ferreira continues on in similar fashion from here, but it is clear at this point that he is singing about letting go of the past and the negatives in life before it becomes overpowering. The more powerful vibe of the chorus, during which he and his band mates sing about letting go heightens even more the more introspective vibe of the verses, showing even more clearly in whole the importance of letting go and moving forward. The whole presentation proves to be one of the album’s most important entries, and not the only one worth noting. The hard-driving song that is ‘Letting Go’ is another of the album’s key additions.
‘Letting Go’ is one of the rare heavier moments featured in Mercury Retrograde and is just as radio ready as ‘Tether’ and the rest of the album. It is a standard hard rock song, musically speaking, that will appeal easily to fans of Breaking Benjamin, Three Days Grace and other similar acts. Lyrically, the song is just as certain to be a fan favorite because it is another one of those works that focuses on a broken relationship. This is evidenced as Ferreira sings in the song’s lead verse, “There was a time not long ago that I was truly blind.Waters deep and you should know what you left behind/Wasted breath, fallen words upon forsaken hearts/I see you there.” He is joined by his band mates in the chorus, the group singing together, “So if I look in your eyes/And then I see all the lies you’ve told/There’s consequences…You can drift through the skies/And all the thousands of time you’ve shown/A part of you in fear of letting go.” From here Ferreira goes on to sing of someone who just can’t get it right no matter what, and end up still making things bad. In other words, this is someone addressing another individual saying he/she is…well…letting go and moving forward. What’s really interesting to note here is that considering this lyrical theme and the power in the song’s musical arrangement, it would have been so easy for the song to take a much more emo, “oh-woe-is-me” type of approach, but instead opted for a more confident approach. That more confident approach makes this song so much more appealing, and more accessible to a wider range of listeners. Considering this, it becomes clear why this song is another key addition to Mercury Retrograde. It is not the last of the record’s most important entries, either. The over-the-top saccharine sweet ballad that is ‘My Forever’ will appeal to those who want something “a bit more reserved.”
‘My Forever’ is Tantric’s take on a ballad, and conjures thoughts of so many power ballads from the 80s. That is especially the case in the “acoustic” take on the song that closes out the album. That piano-centered take on the song is, as noted, the over-the-top saccharine sweet sort of work that will appeal to a very targeted audience, and is a distinct change of pace from the rest of the album’s offerings. Its lyrical theme about…well…love…stands out, too. Ferreira sings much in the style of so many 80s rock ballad vocalists, “I wonder if you thought of me today/I wonder if in all the thoughts that run through your head/And maybe just made a little space for me/I wonder if you’re feeling the same way/In the sense of push and pull/The negative and beautiful/They all just seem to fade with me/I wonder if we’ll look back many years from now and see/To you, girl/All I promise you is forever/The truth is things that seem impossible, never have a chance against my forever.” He goes on to sing in the song’s second verse, “At times we all react, but stall to think/The souls that we all walk upon/How does a mile feel in their shoes/We all seem to think/It’s just me/How does an average person take it all/If happiness is all the moments between the struggle/How can we face them all/Will we/I wonder if we’ll look back many years from now and think/to you, girl, All I promise you is forever/The truth is things that seem impossible never have a chance against my forever.” From here, he goes on to offer a positive view, saying, “we’ll weather.” Again, here is a theme and musical arrangement that is completely unlike anything else in this record. It’s over the top, needless to say, but is also its own interesting contrast to the record’s powerhouse indictment of people who opt to live life so angry at the world – ‘Angry,’ When that contrast is considered along with the song’s identity apart from that of the rest of the album’s offerings, it proves to be its own crucial addition to the album in whole. When it is considered along with those other songs – including those noted here – the album in whole proves to be an offering that offers its own share of interest that makes it worth at least one interest.
Tantric’s forthcoming seventh album Mercury Retrograde, due out Oct. 7 via Pavement Entertainment, is not the band’s best effort to date, but is still worth at least one interest. That is proven through 10 songs whose lyrical and musical content stand out from one another and will keep listeners engaged and entertained to a point. This is proven through the deep and moving song about moving on with life, ‘Tether,’ ‘The even more confident, powerful song about a broken relationship that is ‘Letting Go’ is another work that supports that statement. The acoustic, piano-driven take of ‘My Forever,’ which closes the album is one more way in which the album proves worth hearing. Between those songs and the rest of the album’s offerings, the record in whole proves a good effort from Tantric that is worth at least one listen. More information on Mercury Retrograde is available online now along with all of Tantric’s latest news and more at:
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