[SONG OF THE DAY] Mellowdrone - "Let It Out"
I would apologize for the Bojack season 5 binge that delayed me getting to today’s SOTD, but considering the depth of the subject matter for both the series and Mellowdrone’s latest single from their upcoming EP, 3, I’d say it’s pretty kismet that I decided to pour myself into both of these things today.
Enough Bojack! I’m so glad that Mellowdrone is back! Admittedly I’ve been a more committed Big Black Delta fan, but it’s very exciting to see frontman Jonathan Bates going back to this project along with his bandmates guitarist Tony DeMatteo and drummer Brian Borg.
Other things I’m really excited about: Jonathan Bates is sober!🙏🏻🙌🏻🙏🏻🙌🏻🙏🏻🙌🏻🙏🏻🙌🏻🙏🏻🙌🏻🙏🏻🙌🏻
You can’t see me right now, but I’m waving invisible pom-poms so hard right now after writing that last sentence. Bates has hinted at his relationship with alcohol on Big Black Delta material in the past, but apparently has made the decision to get clean and put a priority on himself. I couldn’t be happier for him.
As he starts this new chapter of his life, “Let It Out” is his opportunity to explore what it means to be a man. As he told Buzzbands.LA, “[…]Being raised as a male in my generation, you’re never allowed to show feelings.” In “Let It Out”, however, Bates is doing the exact opposite, specifically in the chorus where as he described there’s, “[…]a group of people operatically crying and a dude is saying, ‘Just let it out,’”
I will point out that of the three Mellowdrone songs we’ve been blessed with this year that you can smell some Big Black Delta fumes on this one, which I actually think was a very beautiful conscious choice. Within the first few seconds you’re ears perk up due to some familiar sounds from whoRU812, a record meant to be the final purge of art he created in response to his father passing away. It’s not lost on me that after making an ambient instrumental album and then switching to a different project where he very candidly opens up that somewhere we’d find traces of what will likely be his ongoing mourning.
Bates has actually been at the top of my mind a lot lately because my father passed away in July. Knowing that such beautiful things like Trágame Tierra, whoRU812, and now these new Mellowdrone songs can be the product of such deep loss has been very comforting for me, which is part of why I’m so happy that Bates is doing better.
Thankfully we don’t have long to wait for the 3 EP, it’s dropping on September 26th. In the meantime, if you’re having a much needed self-care Sunday, spend some time with this much needed three minutes and fifty-nine seconds of taking care of yourself this evening.
