RECESSION OR REVIVAL? MY BEAUTIFUL MISTAKE DROP POP-PUNK ANTHEM ‘OUR WEDDING // MY FUNERAL’

SINGLE REVIEW | MY BEAUTIFUL MISTAKE – OUR WEDDING // MY FUNERAL by Jasmin Savage

It’s quite unusual to feel nostalgic towards a song that has only just been released, yet I felt exactly that way whilst listening to ‘Our Wedding // My Funeral’. Instantly I was brought back to my teenage years – shutting myself in my room listening to pop punk and emo tunes through shitty £1 wired earphones on full blast to drown out all my problems. The whole ‘music on, world off’ sort of vibe. Now, ten years later, I sit here listening to My Beautiful Mistake through slightly better headphones, yet the music remains just as personal as it once was.

Released this Friday, ‘Our Wedding // My Funeral’, possesses core pop-punk components: fast-paced drums, snappy guitar riffs, all topped off with angsty lyrics about frontman Joshua Grant’s failed relationship.

“I wrote a wedding speech down on a notepad for a girl I was dating at the time, I thought we would get married and I’m never unprepared. While I was writing the speech I thought to myself, if we don’t end up married, I don’t know what I would do with myself. Of course we broke up, typical, so this song is about that feeling of thinking they’d be the one at the end of the aisle but really, you now have to mourn someone who is still alive.”

‘Our Wedding // My Funeral’ is the Edinburgh band’s debut single since rebranding – Joshua Grant is now joined by Luke Walker, Austen Brunton and Caleb Cunningham, to form ‘white boy recession emo rock’ band My Beautiful Mistake.

After a few listens to the track, I found myself singing along as if the lyrics had been cemented in my brain long ago. It’s amazing how a catchy pop-punk song will do that to you. Their sound feels reminiscent of peak Neck Deep, specifically their 2015 album Life’s Not Out To Get You. The more I listen, the more I reminisce on days spent hanging out with friends at the skate park or bandstand. The crushing weight of the world felt a little lighter as we had each other, and the music. It really felt like the bands understood us when nobody else could.

In recent years, there has been a resurgence of emo and pop-punk music – with established bands Blink-182 and Bowling For Soup (amongst others) actively touring – and household name My Chemical Romance leading a (black) parade of elder emos on a trip down memory lane with a tour back in June. There’s quite clearly a demand for music in these subgenres. However, from the loss of major alternative music publications Kerrang and MTV; to the rise in short form content on social media; it becomes increasingly more difficult for upcoming artists to have their voices heard without becoming part-time content creators in the process.

This certainly hasn’t broken the spirit of now four piece My Beautiful Mistake, already bagging a playlist spot on Amazing Radio’s Rock and Metal station, and their debut music video airing on CMJ College Music Network’s live stream, as well as an EP to come.

Interestingly, they released the music video for ‘Our Wedding // My Funeral’ two days before the official release date on streaming platforms. This was a pleasant surprise to me as it feels like many artists favour promoting track streams. By releasing the music video first, they not only gave their current fans a preview to the song, but also mimicked that same exciting feeling of discovering new music on the aforementioned music channels.

Their dedication to connecting with fans doesn’t stop there. Whilst supporting Human Renegade at their upcoming King Tut’s Summer Nights show, My Beautiful Mistake will be selling a limited release of 8” vinyls, fitted with electronic chips that redirect to a web game designed by the band. From here, fans will be able to delve deeper into the creative process of the song, allowing them to experience the music in a truly unique and interactive way. 

“The idea for My Beautiful Mistake is to let people all the way in, mistakes and all.”

Listen to My Beautiful Mistake’s new single ‘Our Wedding // My Funeral’: here.

See them supporting Human Renegade at King Tut’s Summer Nights on 20th August: tickets here

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