Alt Star MOTHICA Stuns On New Anthem, “Casualty” - Single & Music Video
PHOTO CREDIT: HOUSE OF MOTHS
Alternative icon MOTHICA is unstoppable on her latest release “Casualty,” a self-affirming anthem that's dripping with early-2000s pop-punk nostalgia on top of its striking visuals.
Released via her imprint label Heavy Heart Records – a partnership with Rise Records and BMG – “Casualty” confronts MOTHICA’s story of reinvention as she resolves to be her own savior, not just another “casualty” of a long battle with depression and alcoholism.
PHOTO CREDIT: HOUSE OF MOTHS
The song features the gritty vocals, biting lyrics, and intense narratives that MOTHICA is known for, but its instrumentals chart new territory. The accompanying video furthers that new direction, a macabre palette of Gatsby-era glamor, surrealist architecture, and a suited-up stage band reminiscent of Fall Out Boy’s popular 2009 music video “Thnks fr th Mmrs”.
The song was produced by iconic songwriter Jacoby Shaddix of Papa Roach, with his longtime collaborators Colin Brittain and Nick Furlon. Wailing guitars and crashing percussion become a reflection of the internal struggle that often dominates MOTHICA’s lyrical themes, adding to the aggressive and gothic ambience of the song.
Many of the lyrics are also self-referential, with MOTHICA referencing 2 of her earlier tracks, “Self Destructive” (“Hospitals at 24, alone and self-destructive”) and “Heavy Heart” (“These thoughts get too heavy when my heart weighs a ton”). As a writer, MOTHICA pays homage to her own healing journey through somber self reflection, and with lyrics tinged with anger, “Casualty” becomes equal parts haunting and electrifying.
“This song isn’t your typical Mothica song,” MOTHICA explains, “I got to experiment with a bunch of genres, invoking the music I grew up on with my own twist.”
The track’s anthemic refrain also reveals confidence for the future, as MOTHICA closes on the line “I won't go down like that”. In it, she makes a clearer commitment to pull herself through even the darkest parts of her life, a story which she shared over the course of her last LP, the globally-charting “Blue Hour”.
PHOTO CREDIT: HOUSE OF MOTHS
“Casualty is a promise to not die by suicide or drug overdose, which was a very real trajectory for me in the past. It’s one of those songs that just sets my soul on fire in the best way,” she says.
The song is the first release of several this year, and also gives us a first look into the spectral world of “Nocturnal”, MOTHICA’s upcoming long-form project and sophomore album.
With “Casualty” as its first articulation, and a smash hit at that, MOTHICA once again positions herself at the most eminent dichotomy: between saccharine songstress and superstar. If “Casualty” is any evidence, “Nocturnal” is sure to stand as one of 2022’s most riveting releases.
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