Album track by track by Merry Kirk-Holmes – vocalist for To Octavia
With their long-awaited debut album MELODRAMA, Melbourne’s To Octavia deliver their most realised work to date – a bold leap into the darker, heavier territory they’ve been building on for years. Produced, mixed and mastered by longtime collaborator Chris Lalic (Windwaker, RinRin, Headwreck), the record accentuates the band’s genre-blending roots of metal, pop and electronic music, while channeling the conviction of their early work. Following a run of singles including ‘bury me.’, ‘Talk Is Cheap’ and ‘What’s My Name?’, MELODRAMA embraces fearlessness and authenticity.
Below, vocalist Merry Kirk-Holmes walks us through the album track by track, unpacking the themes, influences and concepts that form the foundations of their debut LP.
Shapeshifter
‘Shapeshifter’ is like our anime opening track. It had a sort of epic, inspirational feeling musically, so the lyrics and melody had to fit with that. The song pulled a message of hope out of me. I might lose control of the direction of my life but everything changes, so I’m never truly stuck.
SPIT
‘SPIT’ is the heaviest track on the album. A fast-paced, fiery metalcore track, reminiscent of our earliest tracks. It’s a return to our roots, with what made To Octavia what we were in the beginning.
Adore
‘Adore’ is one of my favourite tracks on the record. A straightforward modern rock banger. We drew a lot of inspiration from bands like Don Broco and Royal Blood with this one.
Something in the Water
‘Something in the Water’ is a love song for someone who you no longer recognise. It’s about someone who had seemingly suddenly changed and coming to terms with the fact that maybe they always really were this way and you just couldn’t see it, and questioning if the love you have for them is enough to stay through the hurt.
What’s My Name?
‘What’s My Name?’ is a song that is angry at the world. Dealing with the frustrations and disappointments of how we treat each other around the world, and the ramifications of when people can be pushed too far.
The Tower
‘The Tower’ is my ode to the occult. Packed with references to things like alchemy, rosicrucianism, ceremonial magic, and most obviously tarot; all packed together in an emo-rock love song.
bury me.
‘bury me.’ was one of the first songs we wrote all together in the same room after the pandemic. It’s the most personal track on the album, lyrically, to me. It tells a tale of abandonment and redemption, finding strength in self-reliance and fighting through a painful path towards the dream.
Mirror Soul
The inspiration for the ‘Mirror Soul’ lyrics came from a date I had watching cheesy movies like “50 First Dates”. The song loosely follows a story of completely forgetting someone you love each morning, and falling in love with them over and over each day. Juxtaposed with the dystopian, post-apocalyptic instrumentals.
Crystalline
‘Crystalline’ is the oldest song on the album, written alongside the tracks from our previous EP Wonderland. It was our experiment into a more electro-ambience sound, inspired by artists like Rufus Du Sol and the Japanese House.
Talk Is Cheap
‘Talk is Cheap’ is a call out to people who don’t act how they speak, stand up for what they really believe, or attack others without the guts to follow through. Musically we wanted to weave our grunge and nu-metal influences together.
Lover Undercover
‘Lover Undercover’ is a pastiche of modern rock and metal, taking influence from bands like Bring Me the Horizon. Lyrically it also follows that format, mixing together the poetic, emotive language with a more casual, conversational energy.
Bad Feeling
‘Bad Feeling’ deals with the stories people tell themselves to explain or justify why they behave poorly to others. The belief that the world or themselves can never change, so why bother trying. Bringing out the acoustic guitar to end the record with was also a fun way to bookend this era of To Octavia.
MELODRAMA is out now
