Murnau – Repent (2021)
Love can be a wonderful thing but it can also be painful, particularly when it is not returned. Murnau fills your ears with the strains of unrequited love through the tones of ‘Repent’. Woven around unreturned affection is a feeling of faith but also a sense of much more. With lyrics that are open to personal interpretation, the single captures your mind and rings through your senses.
This look at unrequited love comes from Alex Riggens (vocals, guitar) and Nick Pompou (drums). The duo has been in bands together since they were in high school and started this project in college. Drawing on a range of different sounds, they create soundscapes that are loud, haunting and distorted while catchy and made to linger long after they end.
The opening guitar riff of ‘Repent’ hooks its talons into your brain and holds you in place for the deep beat to vibrate through your chest. That initial riff continues into the main melody and sinks its hooks deeper into your brain. This leads to a burst of instrumentation that is pure alternative rock goodness. You will be soaring on the blast of instrumentation while moving your head to the rhythm. The soaring feeling abruptly drops back to the opening riff which is a wonderful movement and artful arrangement.
Riggens’ vocals softly creep into the soundscape like a whisper through the dark. His vocals captivate you like the feeling of falling in love before calling out with the blast of instrumentation. While the single touches on unrequited love, there is a slightly obsessive feeling as well. The lyrics are a bit ambiguous allowing each listener to draw their own conclusions about the story of the track. The falling into creeping obsession for one listener can be a building of overpowering unrequited emotion for another. This is really wonderful and wraps around the enthralling music in the best possible way.
Murnau uses ambiguous lyrics to draw you into the tale of emotion set to addictive alternative rock tones in ‘Repent’. The melody rises and falls through a masterful arrangement while the vocals draw you close. Together, they create a captivating track that you can easily listen to at any time.
Find out more about Murnau on their Facebook, Instagram and Spotify.
