New Miserable Experience – Philosophy On Pessimism (EP)
Release Date: 27th January 2023
Label: Translation Loss Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Shoegaze, Pop, Ambient, Post-Hardcore, Electronic.
FFO: Team Sleep, Mareux, How To Destroy Angels.
Review By: Ross Bowie
Philosophy On Pessimism is the debut EP by New Miserable Experience, which features members of Rosetta and Revocation. The entire EP was recorded remotely, with the band using file sharing to craft together the five tracks. The quartet have crafted a sombre yet futuristic release, sounding what I imagine a shoegaze band in the Bladerunner universe would sound like.
The Prophet starts the album off with a futuristic synth bass line, while luscious clean guitars compliment the bass and set the stage for vocalist David Grossman to creep in with his melancholy melody and pin the entire song together. The melodies are straight forward but bring a new level of atmosphere, especially as the “Speak to us” refrain guides the song to its finish. The combination of clean guitars and synth bass is the foundation, the entire EP builds itself on which although repetitive the guitar work stops the idea becoming stale.
Philosophy On Pessimism however swaps the bass for a gracious piano intro that sounds like it’s been ripped straight from a heart-breaking indie game. The piano tone paints pictures of snow and cold air before returning to familiar territory. The title track feels like the band at their most confident and has more urgency than the rest of the EP. The synth lifts the track and makes the smooth vocals hit that much higher. The song takes an electronic tangent which takes that snow-capped intro throws the player right into a cyberpunk boss battle, but somehow the band have created such a vivid world that it all just makes sense.
Across its five tracks you can see what New Miserable Experience are trying to achieve, and while the title track and The Prophet nail that mixture, other songs aren’t quite as cohesive. There are moments that it starts to feel like music crafted in separate rooms and that’s when the EP is at its lowest, but the potential is all there. If the band can craft a full length with some more choruses and some riff variation then they will be on their way, but as a starting point, New Miserable Experience have all the right reasons to get you excited. 
(3 / 5)
