I fell, I fell hard, for this song in the first few moments of my very first listen. There’s a darkness to ‘Manic’, a brooding atmosphere that’s almost suffocating, That is until the soaring chorus kicks in. Keira’s vocals, intimate, slightly anxious; draw you into the heart of the song. Atmospheric sounds build the feel. I expected a build, synth rock songs do that, but it’s a slow burn to the explosion of sound, the power of Kiera’s voice hitting you in your soul.
‘Manic’ surprises with musical twists and turns. Unexpected sounds stab out, atmospheric washes of synth. But make no mistake for all it’s pop sensibility this is a rock song; it’s heavy, It’s just not done with those standard guitar sounds.
Keira explains what the song is about, “ ‘Manic is a song about generational trauma, you know? When you’re at a party and everyone’s wasted, getting too deep for their own good and realising we all walk around with our parents’ emotional baggage – this song is about saying that we don’t have to do that. We don’t have to struggle the same way. We can be free of that.”
Once you know that the song snaps into focus, you get that what the song is about is driving the feel and the sound. The anxiety and uncertainty, and the frustrated rage of it. The heavy darkness that hovers over the song.
Ava in the Dark are carving out a niche of their own; making music their own way with their own sound. I expected a great track from Ava in the Dark but this is beautiful, dark and beautiful. It is simply wonderful.
The info
There is a DIY aesthetic to Ava in the Dark, Lead singer Kiera and Guitarist Tommie retreated to their home studio (aka in the bedroom) with a laptop to write new music – ‘Manic’’ was self-produced and recorded entirely at home – mixed by two times GRAMMY Award-winning engineer Eduardo D.
