CoolTop20’s New Release – Sitting in a Room Surrounded by Strangers (album) by Girls Like Mystery

by Lean

https://cooltop20.com

Girls Like Mystery are a five piece rock band based in Singapore. The band began in Shanghai, where they released their first album, ‘Distance Changes Everything‘ in 2013. When lead singer Kevin Wright moved to Singapore in 2018, Girls Like Mystery played their final China show at Yuyintang, Shanghai. 

The band restarted in 2020 in Singapore under a new line-up of Kevin Wright (vocals), Blake Stetson (guitar & vocals), Scott Smith (bass), Jack Magner (keys & vocals), and Erik Richardson (drums). As they started during the Singapore lockdown, and live music has not really started up again, the band are yet to play a live performance as Girls Like Mystery. However, they will play a live stream event aired via their YouTube channel on 5th June at 8pm Singapore/ 1 pm UK.

They have recently released a single ‘Another You & Me Song‘. A full album ‘Sitting in a Room Surrounded by Strangers’ will be out on 4th June.

What can you tell us about the artwork? 

“The artwork depicts me (Kevin) sitting in a restaurant in Shanghai (a room surrounded by strangers) on my first date with my now wife. The title is the first line from track #6 on the album, ‘Found’. This song tells the story of that first date. A friend had recommended the restaurant, when I got there it was tiny and people were packed in like sardines. I was extremely nervous, trying to impress my date with interesting conversation but with strangers almost sitting at the table with us! After the meal I walked her home and she friend zoned me…. Another song ‘Fumin Lu’ builds on that idea and tells the story of the walk home from the date + date #2 which was more successful.”

“The artwork was created by a close friend of mine, Elissa Rae Ecker. She has been amazing in this whole process. All of the singles artwork – ‘Yes!’, ‘Found’ and ‘Another You & Me Song’ were all sketches as she made her way to creating the album title, which we couldn’t be happier with. There aren’t many better people out there than Elissa!”

Where was it recorded and mixed?

“So the reason why this album was possible, was because of our guitarist and producer, Blake Stetson. When Singapore went into lockdown in early 2020, I started writing new music. The first track I recorded was my favourite on the album, ‘Our Time To Be (Heroes)’. I recorded some really crappy demos and then Blake made them into real songs. (laughs)”

“The whole album was recorded in what is traditionally a maid’s room in Singapore – toilet included. He has made it into probably the world’s tiniest studio. Blake has really made this album what it is! He is a mixing and mastering wizard.”

Does the whole album fit into a particular musical genre, or does it borrow from multiple forms?

“I would definitely say it dips in and out of different musical genres. Most people say we sound like pop rock, but I think there is a bit of everything in our music. Tracks like ‘Our Time To Be (Heroes)’ and ‘Christian’ definitely have that Strokesy sound for me. Then we have tracks like ‘Another You & Me Song’ and ‘Found’, which from the influence of Blake, have definitely got a bit more of a punk sound to them. When I wrote ‘Found’, I actually wrote it on an acoustic guitar and I was going for a kind of folk punk sound, maybe a little like Frank Turner.”

“Also, if you check out ‘ Fumin Lu’, that just takes the album in a completely different genre to anything Girls Like Mystery have done before. It has a kind of American country feel to the track.”

(This article first appeared on https://cooltop20.com on 31 May 2021.)