British award-winning double act Chrissy Mostyn and Rick Pilkington (AKA The Black Orchestra) have released scorching new track, “Born to Live” – and boy is an offering.
Identifying as composers, songwriters and multi-instrumentalists, “Born to Live” breaks away from the stifling, commercialist material that so often hogs our charts. Like many a great crossover, Mostyn and Pilkington are difficult to pin down. In many ways, The Black Orchestra are pioneers of folktronica; a liberating, unconventional play on textures that sees the pair sporadically creating an avant-garde, musical utopia. Boasting stringed dexterity with 80’s synth, the classical influence is clear to see.
Now, try repeating those last two sentences without blinking. What a tongue twister.
“Born to Live” flaunts Mostyn’s raw, haunting vocals that compliment the track’s impassioned lyrics. Unleashing a soprano tone reminiscent of Martha Wainwright in Snow Patrol’s “Set The Fire to The Third Bar”, it’s a sugary sweet sound that’s utterly gorgeous with the perfect amount of sobriety. Meanwhile, Pilkington – or rather Pluckington as he shall now be known – peppers the track with funky, staccato guitar lines that intertwine with invitee Martin Hviid’s synths and percussion.
In sound, “Born to Live” steps away from linearity and dares you to contemplate – or even join – the creators on a melodic journey of the human psyche. How very Freudian.
So, tune in and prepare to be transported into an entirely self-created, highly illustrated and harmonious universe that “Born to Live” tailors.
