Hotel Mira release their sophomore album I Am Not Myself on September 8th. The band is made up of 4 members; Charlie Kerr on vocals, Mike Noble on bass, Clark Grieve on guitar, and Cole George on drums. The members all met through the music scene and teamed up to make what they call "pop music disguised as rock music with optimistic and earnest lyrics disguised as detached cynicism." And, their latest album is just that.
I Am Not Myself is an eclectic record with lots of different sounds, which Charlie shares differed from some of the band's previous work. He tells us that they left no stone unturned in the recording process with working with "quite the rogues gallery of producers." In making the record, the band put in a lot of writing, editing, re-writing, collaborating, and negotiating. Charlie says, "This thing was a labor of love but also definitely took it out of us. But ultimately I think this record really made us a cohesive tight rock band and closer friends."
Track by Track
The band peaks our interest opening with haunting vocals and strumming in "Everything Once". The song successfully captures the feeling of losing your mind but longing for the high that comes with it.
Then the album flows into "Fever Pitch", which is an indie rock bop that will make you want to roll down the windows of your car and blast the song on a cool, evening drive.
Third on the list, "Eventually" encapsulates what it's like to be strung along but wanting to believe that every word the other person tells you is true. It is a delusional anthem in the best way, but the delusions are starting to fade.
Up next, "Alone In America" is a song that will make you think you're listening to something from Tom Petty, which shows you this band's talent when it comes to creating music. The song perfectly follows up "Eventually" with lyrics that say, "I know it's a waste of time to call you my Valentine."
Next, "King Of The World" is absolutely iconic with the line, "I'm in need of a quick lobotomy. Do you know someone good?" The song continues the story carried through "Eventually" and "Alone In America", giving us a cohesive picture of a complicated relationship.
"Mama" is next and really demonstrates the album title "I Am Not Myself." The song talks about the contradiction of being "too drunk to drive" but also "needing a ride", which reflects what the band is trying to portray with identity crisis.
The band describes the following song, "Dancing With The Moonlight", on their Spotify profile, saying the song started out as an earworm hook that transformed into its own wild beast. The goal for the song while it was being created was to make it "as unpredictable and energetic as possible," which led to what the band describes as "zipline synths, sleek disco strings, and the frantic and fiery coup-de-grace of Clark Grieve's speaker-blowing guitar solo."
"Vampire" follows with what Mike describes as "a unanimously fun, experimental song" for the band. He tells us, "It was nice being able to flex our musical muscles in more unconventional ways, and I think the result of it is really something special and unique."
Next, "Silver Lake" contrast the last 2 fast songs by slowing down the beat and softening the music, while bringing us to tears with a story of heartbreak.
The album seamlessly rolls into "Amanda" with that same calming feeling in the music as the prior song. But, the story seems to shift into the idea that "Amanda" is a godsend for the main character in the story.
The penultimate song, "Watering Concrete", shifts the mood by giving us a beat that immediately wants to make us get up and dance. It continues to project the internal struggle of wanting the best but still having the capacity to "burn it all down" and waiting for the worst to happen.
"The Age of Detachment" is the perfect bookend to the album. It is a song that would play perfectly over credits rolling at the end of a movie. With this incredible cool song, Hotel Mira closes out their sophomore album by telling us, "Do your worst."
Charlie described the album to us in saying, "I think the ongoing theme is an identity crisis, profound loneliness and fear of people, and going from thinking of other people as an obstacle to thinking of other people as a miracle. In fact, the title 'I Am Not Myself' could be seen as an admission that none of us are just ourselves and we are all, in fact, mosaics of our communities and loved ones."
This album is the perfect musical piece to listen for spooky season with their mentions of Dracula and vampires in the lyrics of several songs, and it comes just in time for some exciting announcements coming from Hotel Mira. We highly recommend you follow Hotel Mira on socials for Australian tour info, American tour info, and more!
