The second album from MantraRay is an excellent collection of indie rock songs recorded over the last couple of years. Two years on from their debut album Mantraray (The Collection) they have pulled out all the stops for the follow up. Trevor Brill from Cardiff and Billy Raymond-Barker from Devon were once bandmates on the 90s London gig circuit but have reunited to record new material
Between The Lies is released on 1st December 2023 on all good (and many bad) streaming platforms.
Bandcamp Friday is 1st December 2023 so all digital or physical CD purchases go straight to the artist who will kindly donate all profits for the album to mental health charities.
▶︎ Between The Lies | MantraRay (bandcamp.com)
The album opens with a trio of new rocky numbers. Rockstar tells the tale of the big man who has outlived his fame and is clinging to the past whilst drifting into obscurity. My Broken Heart is unsurprisingly a heartbreak song if you listen to the lyrics but the music sneers at that genre and is played as a high tempo angry guitar rock song. Filthy takes things up another notch and vents at politicians who darken their door. There could be a few candidates on the recieving end of some well deserved verbal abuse come the next election.
A surprise faithful cover of Plush by Grunge legends Stone Temple Pilots is a real pleasure. It is the only cover they have ever recorded and they've rugby tackled a classic here and come up smiling. Devil You Know (sadly not a Kylie Minogue cover - but I'ld love to hear that). This is a song about being stuck together in a relationship which you know isn't working and trying to end it. Interlude is a fifty second acoustic anti-war song. It's MantraRay's Elizabeth My Dear. It is followed by Sunflowers inspired by an act of bravery of a Ukrainian woman who offered a Russian soldier sunflower seeds so something good would come from his death. This is the first song on the album that has been released previously and it also features the talents of Joe Adhemar on piano and backing vocals.
The second half of the album begins with the magnificent Kaleidoscope - a dark song with strings, beats, chruching guitars and plenty of aural treats. The message is take chances and live your best life. Cuts Too Deep is a Noel Rock style ballad if Noel wrote songs about being saved from suicidal thoughts. Forever Your Pleasure is another previously released single featuring the elusive Invisible Squirrel dropping a handful of his winter cache of squelchy beats into the mix.
Sorry Not Sorry is a song about facing your demons and struggling with them. Lazy Days however is a carefree song about enjoying your holiday and wishing it would never end. Complete with Mexican horns and the smell of aftersun lotion. It also features Speedy Gonzales on backing vocals - which is quite a coup! Just Like The Sun is a fantastic woozy song that I've enjoyed for a long time and its pleasing to find it on this album as the penultimate track. The album closer Grown is a another short acoustic song written to their grown up children and it's lovely.
In summary - bloody great album - go get it!
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▶︎ Between The Lies | MantraRay (bandcamp.com)
