London’s MOSAICS transport us back to the good old days of the 1990s with a delicious anthemic melodic rock sound that they describe as “nostalgic guitar anthems.”
The band started out when Stu Smith and Owen Castillo met at university in 2017 after a freshers event, with Owen being drawn to Stu’s Stone Roses t-shirt. And a boisterous rendition of Sally Cinnamon was all Stu needed to ask Owen to join his band as the vocalist. The pair moved to London after uni and, armed with new songs and two guitars, they recruited drummer Josh Seetanah and bassist El Modena, with whom they immediately struck an electric chemistry.
On the sound they’ve crafted since, Stu told us: “A combination of classic nineties shimmer with anthemic choruses and a strong focus on melody. We love a lot of contemporary production techniques and sounds, we love poetic lyricism, but you cannot beat a strong, singalong chorus. That is at the core of everything we do.”
Our latest taste of this is Different People, which was released at the end of last month and features British music royalty Paul McCartney’s son James on guest vocals. It opens up with shimmering guitars that feed into a verse led by engaging vocals, which begin with the line “I’m always feeling like a forgotten punchline, Sentimental meanings and a taste for the sublime.” That flows into a big catchy “Searchin’ for a life less ordinary, Is playing on my mind, Don’t mistake my words for lack of caring, I won’t apologise, I lose you in the crowd, We’re different people now.” James’ vocals take over as a duet in the second verse through the second chorus, which ends with repeats of “we’re different people now” over bursts of saxophone, which takes the lead through a lively outro.
On the track, Stu told us: “The reception has been nothing short of exceptional. We are so deeply proud of the work we did on the record and it means the world to have released the song to such universal fanfare. It’s a little bit of a departure for us, swapping our more traditional songwriting techniques for a slightly slower, anthemic track built around a single driving guitar. It’s lyrically introspective, deconstructing the end of a relationship in the midst of the hustle and bustle of metropolitan life, with a driving groove and a huge, brassy crescendo.”
And on working with James McCartney, he added: “We were fortunate enough to have a mutual friend with James through our publisher. We had a chance introduction about six months ago and immediately gelled. After hearing James’ excellent EP, we mooted the idea of a collaboration and sent him over the demo for Different People, having always thought it would be a great track as duet. Next thing you know we were in the studio with James laying down some frankly excellent harmonies and really pensive second verse.” Check the track out in the stream here:
Different People is the latest in a strong back catalague of MOSAICS singles over the last few years, including the big singalong Jackie Brown, the lively Technicolour and the more laid back Weekend in Paris. But a personal favourite is the delicious most recent track Sleep Talk, which features the dreamy chorus “Sleep talk, sleep talk, You don’t wanna know, The stories I tell with my, Eyes closed, eyes closed, It’s a miracle, If it makes any sense at all” and a funky little guitar solo.
The MOSAICS sound has been heavily influenced by 90s Britpop and 2000s indie, including the likes of The Verve, Radiohad and Coldplay. And the band’s members are big fans of Sam Fender, Wunderhorse and DMAs.
And on what inspires them to write music, Stu explains: “Documenting our experiences and setting them to music. All good songs should be personal but still universal, and we try to tap into the sentiment amongst our generation around life, love and the insecurity of post Covid social and political life.”
MOSAICS are currently in the process of mixing and mastering three more singles to release through the early months of this year. They’re also looking to spread their music all over the country, so look out for them at gigs and festivals near you. As Stu adds: “We are always playing, always writing and always looking to be heard in more places by more people to grow our community. This is just the beginning.”
You can follow MOSAICS on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok, and check out their music on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube.
GigRadar 
One Reply to “New Band of the Week: MOSAICS”