Album Review: Thyla Asks “What’s On Your Mind?”
“All of the songs on our debut, in some way, talk about the ills of today’s ‘social network’. The lyrics are based on negative personal experiences and a subsequent thirst to understand what it is that has made us so miserable.”- Millie Duthie of Thyla
This quote pretty much sums up the theme of Thyla’s debut EP What’s On Your Mind. A pop-rock opus to how mind-warping social media or social networking can be to how we see humanity. No matter what anyone says, social media is a human construct, and or better or worse, real or fake, wise and dumb, it reveals humanity’s essence. From “Blue” to “Candy,” Millie sings to how bare she has felt in front of the black mirror, i.e. computer screen. For some reason, the internet can churn one’s heart like butter, and that is not a good thing.
Personally, I feel what makes social networking so anxiety-inducing is that its capacity to veil you also leaves you completely open and transparent. From altered pics to revealing sentiments,in an odd way, people get real on the internet over either who they are or wish to be. Lyrically, Thyla tussles with the gnawing feeling that you need to “move” on from the happenings in the world of social networking and your complete emotional investment in it. Their chords can roar and rage like a bunch coding swirling through your computer, but then their melodies shimmer like an instagram post with a a million likes. Thyla’s capacity to capture the symphonic chaos of the online dimension allows Millie’s voice to come off like an Alice In Wonderland.
Duthie’s voice has a way of sounding sweetly fractured. She feels strangely solid and safe as she sings to feeling everything but so. This frees “Bitter,” “Only Ever,” and “Better Me” to frolic its melodies as if they do not know whether to brown the forest down or let it grow as it wills. Once again, another image, that follows well with our bonds with the internet. For More Information On Thyla And To Buy What’s On Your mind On February 1 Click Here.
