Daily Dose is your daily source for the song you absolutely, positively need to hear every day. Curated by the Paste Music Team.
Brighton four-piece Thyla unveiled their debut EP, What’s On Your Mind?, today (Feb. 1) via REX Records. They previously shared cuts like “Blue” and “Candy,” as well as the album’s latest single, “Only Ever,” which came out this week.
“Only Ever” may be frontwoman Millie Duthie’s finest hour as a lead vocalist. She dishes out piercing chorus vocals, reaching a peak of elation that many singers strive for, but ultimately stumble in pursuit of its grasp. Beyond the soaring chorus, her vocals are just as entrancing in their mistier form, with swirling, washed-out backing vocals a la Elizabeth Fraser. Resting on a bed of Cure-like guitars on steroids and Duthie’s lush, enigmatic vocals, Thyla have found their sweet spot on the five-track What’s On Your Mind?, and they have a firm footing to launch from when it comes to a debut full-length.
Duthie said of the themes threaded throughout the new EP:
All of the songs on our debut, in some way, talk about the ills of today’s “social network.” The lyrics are based on negative personal experiences and a subsequent thirst to understand what it is that has made us so miserable. There’s pressure everywhere online to project your thoughts and feelings about pretty much everything. It’s self-fulfilling, the more you give away the more you feel compelled to give away. The “social network” feeds off of individuals’ social anxiety by introducing a point scoring system of likes and shares that creates a competitive market for the mundane; a virtual playing field for status. It’s made the private public and we’re all obsessed!
After supporting bands like Sunflower Bean and Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever in the U.K., they will embark on their first U.K. headline tour this month. Thyla will also make their first trip over to America in March for an appearance at SXSW and more dates to be announced.
Listen to “Only Ever” below and click here to stream What’s On Your Mind? on Spotify. You can check out the band’s upcoming tour dates further down below.
Thyla Tour Dates:
February
09 – Manchester, U.K. @ YES
13 – London, U.K. @ The Lexington
15 – Southampton, U.K. @ Heartbreakers
16 – Brighton, U.K. @ The Hope & Ruin
March
12-16 – Austin, Texas @ SXSW
May
04 – Leeds, U.K. @ Live At Leeds
05 – Newcastle, U.K. @ Hit The North