Los Angeles’ pop duo Mating Ritual dropped their third album, entitled Hot Content, just moments ago.
Up until 2014, the duo, siblings Ryan Lawhon and Taylor Lawhon, were known as Pacific Air. But when Taylor decided to return to school, Ryan formed a solo project called Mating Ritual and began working on his debut album, How You Gonna Stop It?. As the project proceeded, it became more and more of a collaborative effort between the brothers.
As soon as the first album dropped, the two went to work on another album called Light Myself On Fire. Before long, the two albums amassed more than 25 million streams and vast media support. The brothers hardly noticed because they were already working on still another album, Hot Content, a name borrowed from an Instagram joke gone meta.
Eleven tracks long, Hot Content blends elements of pop and shimmering electro-pop into infectious nuanced concoctions of bright sonic textures.
Hot Content
Entry points include “U.N.I,” an electro-pop number flavored with dance-lite rhythmic energy. “Panic Attack” rides new wave sonic savors atop percussion, as tasty rasping vocals glide overhead.
“Falling Back” travels on a gleaming electro-pop melody full of swirling synths and a compact rhythm. Expanding coloration infuses the chorus with radiant vocals and velvety washes of harmonies. “The Name of Love” opens on glittering synths and a pulsing kick drum flowing into a polished electro-pop tune rife with dream-pop-laced textures.
“October Lover” may well be the best track on the album because of its surging harmonics and vibrant dynamics. Reminiscent of The Killers, only with more resonance and dreamier vocals, the song’s energy is beguiling.
The last track on the album, “Game,” rides low-slung flavors of electro-pop topped by wistful falsettos, injecting the lyrics with tight, impulsive timbres.
Randy Radic is a Left Coast author and writer. Author of numerous true crime books written under the pen-name of John Lee Brook. Former music contributor at Huff Post.
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