“Feeling inspired by a mix of the obsession with high fashion with a very Texas Chain Saw-like vibe, ‘Death Row’ sees Levitan and Dawson giving viewers an experience you won’t soon forget.”
“Not all acts go so far as to name their studio space ‘the grave’ or incorporate funeral themes into their visual aesthetic. Enter: MXMS, an up-and-coming Los Angeles duo that does eerie, gloomy synthpop the way that it should be done.”
CONSEQUENCE OF SOUND
“MXMS describe their music as FUNERAL POP. And if they are the creators and leading artist of this small subgenre, Funeral Pop is worth your time and attention.”
EARMILK
It should come as no surprise that a band who calls its genre Funeral Pop has a certain affinity for Halloween.
MXMS, also known as Me and My Shadow, is releasing the video for their new single, “Death Row,” just in time for their favorite holiday. The track, which features the band’s trademark sound – pulsing analog synthesizers and a crushing rhythm section – was released on October 22. But, the video – a bloody, suspenseful nod to horror flicks, officially drops this week, making it the perfect addition to any Halloween playlist.
Comprised of singer, Ariel Levitan, and multi-instrumentalist, Jeremy Dawson, MXMS effortlessly fuses classic melodic songwriting with dark, unfiltered chaos. More importantly, Levitan and Dawson offer hope through honesty, pouring their deeply personal stories into almost every song.
Earlier this year, MXMS released their single, “What’s My Name” in honor of World Suicide Prevention Day. A month later, they released the song’s VIDEO in honor of World Mental Health Day. Much like “What’s My Name,” many of MXMS’s songs are autobiographical with a focus on their very own emotional trauma.
“Death Row,” however, has a much different feel, and it’s teeming with taboo metaphoric expression. The song also shines a light on MXMS’s remarkable versatility.
“We have two very different shades of dark when it comes to our art,” explains Levitan. “One is more beat-driven, sexual and self-destructive. The other is meant to deliver a message. It’s vulnerable, with a stripped down delivery.”
On ‘Death Row,’ Levitan adds: “The song is about a crazy young female drug addict who has no fear of death, and runs wild and free in the madness of her self-created delusional world. It’s brutal and fun at the same time. I always wanted to write a song about being on death row and being comfortable with that, although not in the sense of being literally convicted of a crime. I mean the state of being imprisoned to die in your mind.
‘Death Row’ moves moves through various forms of addiction and eventually leads to the feeling of just saying: fuck it lets fly to die.”
Directed and produced by Felicity Jayn Heath (Rihanna, Steve Aoki), and shot by Jeff Berlin, the video for “Death Row” was inspired by high-end fashion photography and, more deeply, the complicated and addictive relationship that women have with men. Along with Horror film set designer Sean Forresster, the trio created this amazingly colorful and terrifying world inside of Ariel’s head.
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