Wednesday 31 October 2018

Album Review: Shutup by Millie Manders and The Shutup


Millie Manders is a name that has been tipped to be a big breakout star from the UK's underground music scene for a while now. Mille, along with her band The Shutup, have been wowing crowds all over the UK with their high octane live performances and fantastic songs. I've said a few times on CPRW just what a fantastic performer Millie herself is. During September (sorry for the delay, holidays and stuff) Millie Manders and The Shutup released a brand new EP titled Shutup on Bad Granola Records and Bredda Records.


Shutup begins with the song Right To Life. The track begins slowly with Millie showing off her phenomenal vocal range. Fantastic warbling! Then the song really takes to life with a frantic brass section that injects an unbelievable amount of energy into the track. From there we get some fast paced, almost rapping vocals from Millie that give the verse some attitude before we hit the chorus which contains a massive hook. Mille continues to show off her impressive vocal range to the back straight of the song, as she switches to a growling death metal style similar to Teddy from Obsession Transgression. Following Right To Life is the track Brave. Brave sees more of those fast paced vocals accompanied by some background drumming. It's an interesting way to start the song, a quite minimalist approach that really catches your attention. The song is about having the courage to live your life how you want to and not the way society says you should.

Track number three, Lollipops, was a stand out from MMATSU's EP launch at the New Cross Inn back in September. Swaying into more of a pop punk with horns style, Lollipops draws you in with simple guitar. Millie's vocal soon joins and builds the song up nicely. Lollipops sees the band stray into politics as it talks about our government dropping bombs on innocent people. This is the first time I've heard Millie's songwriting go in this direction and I really enjoyed it. One That Got Away finished Shutup in a big way. The tone of the guitars at the beginning of the track gives it a massive sound and the horns add the energy to the song. Of course, the thing that really stands out is the chorus of "I'll be the one that got away." Simple but brilliant for having a big sing-along. This line is the big earworm of the entire EP. The energy on the whole track is completely infectious and really finished the EP on a gigantic high.

Shutup is Millie Manders and The Shutup's best work to date. All four songs on the EP are highlights in their own way and I really enjoyed how each song has its own distinct sound whilst still remaining a MMATSU song. I've felt for a while that this band's career is on a very upward trajectory. After the release of Shutup, I can only see that trajectory getting steeper and steeper. This is an immensely talented band who deserve your attention.

Stream and download Shutup here: https://milliemanders.bandcamp.com/album/shutup

Like Millie Manders and The Shutup here: https://www.facebook.com/milliemandersmusic

This review was written by Colin Clark.

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