The Mysterines - Afraid Of Tomorrows

For anyone who thought that - fresh from bagging a Top Ten spot for their 2022 debut - The Mysterines would return with something more immediate, you couldn’t be more wrong. Instead, their second record is a gloriously dingy affair, dwelling in the deepest, darkest crevices of the mind. Much like its title suggests, here, frontwoman Lia Metcalfe sounds like she’s unravelling, with her lyrics diving into the paranoia-tinged corners of anxiety and addiction. Opener ‘The Last Dance’ casts a foreboding shadow on the record from the off, further amped up when a vulnerable yet demented-sounding Lia begins its scratchy, whispered outro (“Unholy kind of accidents / Happen when / The puppet cuts the string”). Elsewhere, ‘Another, Another, Another’ possesses a Placebo-ish swagger, before ‘Tired Animal’ slinks into view, slowly dialling up the album’s tension. It’s not all darkness, though; the acoustic-backed ‘Hawkmoon’ provides a sense of fragile levity (soon exploding into a vivid, full-bodied instrumental), while ‘Sink Ya Teeth’ is as close to a vibrant banger as they’re willing to go. Their closing one-two of ‘So Long’ and ‘Afraid Of Tomorrows’, meanwhile, brings things to a bittersweet but somewhat hopeful close. The quartet may have bucked expectations here, but in venturing into the shadows, they’ve made their boldest move yet.