With this frenetic buzzing spiral of sound at the core of it’s main refrain, ‘Bitter Pill‘ is the sonic answer to a panic attack. It prickles against the eardrums and puts the listener into a state of unease. It’s incredibly masterful and emotive song writing that acts as the perfect vessel for the songs message.
It begins with a stuttered robotic drum that feels deadened and lifeless, around this the guitar and organ keys begin their never-ending tornado cyclone dance round and round the totem pole that the rest of the song is built upon.
The song evokes this frantic sense of movement but it somehow feels more mental than it does physical. There are moments of beautiful clarity where a particular piece of instrumentation takes the forefront and makes sense from the madness, but these moments often lead straight back into the chaotic choral refrain.
The lyrics repeat themselves in more of a chant than a chorus, they paint a picture of a mind’s unrest in place of the sweet embrace of sleep that we all rightly crave. The dissonance is unsettling but from out of these troubled feelings they pick out a small silver lining.
The Best Around write their music through quarantine measures detached but completely in sync, sending each other ideas or songs to then complete in separation. They have pulled together a growing number of finished tracks in this manner and it certainly seems to be working as ‘Bitter Pill’ is the first single release from a collection that will steadily trickle out from the band before being pulled together into a full album.
Trying to genre this truly unique sound would be an effort in futility. It has post-punk elements as well as strong jazz and neo-folk influence. There is a psychedelic element that cannot be ignored and it seems to exist in a realm of consciousness normally reserved for dreams. It has this very visceral and concrete emotional connection between the sound and the psyche.
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Words by Matt Miles
