Premiere: Messy Mammals expand to a full band and share Not Gonna Let It Go

Header image by Cameron Mackinnon.

We've come across Melbourne-based duo Messy Mammals a few times over the years, as the two-piece shared a smattering of singles back in 2017: their career-kicking Wish I'd Said, followed by Where?, Orchids and Again. At the time, it was a project which highlighted the musical partnership of bassist/vocalist Asha Trips and guitarist/producer Fionn Brewer; their sound a groovy mix of psych-pop thick with mannerisms from a wide array of sounds, ranging from indie and electronic right through to funk-fuelled R&B and beyond - it was a big mix.

Step forward a few years into 2019, and the band are closing off the year with a reinvention of kinds, expanding into a full band layout as they're joined by a collection of wonderful humans which take it into a seven-piece ensemble: Rara Zulu, Monique Araujo, Niine, Felix Billington Kleinman & Tim Pickup. With it, they welcome an expanding horizon and a larger mix of influences and inspiration to take from, and as a result, the sounds they're working with now feel like a major extension of their past work, moving into new territories as they look forward to a bright year planned for 2020.

The first taste, premiering on Pilerats today ahead of a single launch at Melbourne's Colour Club this Thursday, comes in the form of Not Gonna Let It Go. It's a funky, sonically-rich delight that pushes forward their genre-less sound as they refuse to be packaged into a box; funk grooves and hazy melodies uniting amongst R&B-toned vocals and warped synth sections as they go. It's a real good time that highlights their knack for crafting summer-ready bops, while showing how much the group have changed with the addition of the new members, especially present through the single's lushness.

As mentioned, they're launching it this Thursday at Melbourne venue Colour with a host of special guests - Minorfauna, Don Glori (the side project of Sunnyside’s Gordon Li) and DJ Colette - but in the meantime, dive into Not Gonna Let It Go below:

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