Hotel On Mars

H O T E L O N M A R S

Having closed for rennovations for the last few years, Hotel On Mars has re-opened for business. They return almost two years to the day after their debut offering “Don’t Feel Like Daylight” with a brand new set of 10 tracks out February 28th 2018. Now a leaner, and much meaner two-piece, Ray and Graham retreated to the hotel lobby to write a record with no limitations on ever having to play it live. So kids toyboxes were rifled through, violins and bodhrans dusted down, old synths taken out of moth balls, and pots and pans were robbed from kitchens. Anything was fair game, once it made a noise...

They have put together a musical journey that talks about the woes of the world, and the possible destruction of humanity (or something to that effect...)

The album has many thematic touchpoints, with a lyrical barb melded to the expanded musical sound that they now have access to. Brass and hammonds lead the way on the album-opener with a nod to The Clash, The Specials and Oasis (It’s You); Mariachi brass, stylophones, Moogs and Casio keyboards all make an appearence on The Killers meets U2 rocker (SPOTLIGHT); the electronic Krautrock influenced polemic on the media (Fake News); Lady Gaga meets Chic on the techno dancefloor in this ode to digital vanity and obsession (Selfie); Neil Young & Crazy Horse influenced sonic carnage on the homelessness situation (Cardboard Blanket); the essence of Tom Waits distilled into a rousing call to arms (War On War); a heartfelt violin-rich tribute to someone who has left us (Mums Chair); Wilco channeled into early REM firing a warning shot against social complacency (Don’t Believe In Anyone); written from the perspective of someone fighting their own war, evoking Smashing Pumpkins and the heavy guitar sounds of the Seattle scene peppered with an electronica topping (Foxhole); and finally the album closer (Lame) brings the mood down, awash with strings and a hypnotic guitar riff, bringing us to a fitting end.