Death, Pillage, Plunder, Mellah

I haven’t done a single song as a blog post, but this felt like the time to mix things up. And so, today I’m writing about a song that hooked me in from the first listen, has never been out on vinyl and represents everything I look for in an ‘unspun hero’.

Mellah is Liam Ramsden. A fiercely talented young man, he is more than just a multi-instrumentalist. A skilled carpenter, he’s built his own studio in Peckham, south London, and sets on TV show, Black Mirror. His creativity seemingly knows no bounds, as his career has seen him direct his own music videos, write all his own songs and produce his own music. A true creative tour de force, that’s for sure.

As yet, Mellah has no album, although his three EPs and several singles all point towards a huge talent developing. Death, Pillage, Plunder arrived slap-bang in the middle of his recording output and was my introduction to his music. As I said, it hooked me immediately with its twinkling synths, liquid guitar riff and dark, somewhat menacing lyrics delivered as staccato as the stabbed synth chords that provide the highlight.

All of this tumbles towards a chorus that has the charm of a pop song and yet the avoirdupoisthat more well-known artists never come close to. It’s all vulnerability close to the surface delivered with a dexterity that defies how effortless he makes it sound. It’s fair to say, for what sounds like a fairly simple song it’s incredibly complex, and yet the listener is not burdened by it. Instead, you’re carried along much as a paper boat is by a stream.

Everything is considered in this song. Nothing is out of place. The guitar solo that follows the second chorus, for example, never comes close to sounding like an add-on, but propels the song towards its conclusion – with Liam’s hoots and squalls adding a new dimension.

And then, suddenly, it’s over. Three minutes and forty seconds pass in the blink of an eye and there’s only one obvious thing to do: play it again.

I used to do this. Find a song and just saturate my world with it by playing it on a constant loop. Very few songs make me want to do that – I think it’s fewer than ten, maybe even under five. They may not be everyone’s classics but they represent songs I never tire of and that I can listen to over-and-over again without them losing the energy they brought me on first listen. The law of diminishing returns need not apply.

And so, while I’m typing this I’m already three listens deep. I keep hearing more and more layers to the song’s composition on every virtual spin. I’m insatiable for this song and it’s six years old! It’s the ’45 I’d wear out within a year if it were possible to buy and play it. It’s not. At least, not yet.

There hasn’t been much happening on the release front for a few years, although gigs have happened, as well as a festival appearance here and there. Here’s hoping there’s more to come from Mellah. In the meantime let’s go for another spin of this most excellent track.