MOTHICA TO RELEASE SOPHOMORE ALBUM JULY 1 FEATURING LATEST TWO SINGLES “BEDTIME STORIES” + “BLOOD”

Fans of Mothcia can rejoice: the up-and-coming alt-pop queen has announced that her sophomore album, Nocturnal, will be released on July 1. As with her previous debut and past EP releases, listeners can expect a bevy of songs tackling the topics of mental health, trauma, sobriety and failed relationships. To announce the upcoming album and get fans excited, Mothica has released two more singles from its track-list, “Bedtime Stories” and “Blood.”

The first single, “Bedtime Stories,” is both a banger and completely unassuming. The track is a love song, yet one wouldn’t be able to immediately guess that from the hard-hitting guitar riffs, alt-rock-tinged vocals and fear-induced, self-destructive lyrics. Mothica sings about how, as a child, she, “Grew up so afraid of all these bedtime stories / Read them like a warning / Forever wasn’t for me ’til I met you” — effectively thinking she was never deserving of love if the two lovers in a story didn’t meet a tragic end. She waxes lyrical on, “So I settled down with Jack and soda / Turned myself into a Casanova,” digging deeper into the patterns of behavior informed by the stories with which she grew up. It’s a song that says everything it needs to within the span of two minutes, wasting not one second on regret or platitudes. As the track progresses, there are still ever-present fears of being let down or delving into more bad habits, but Mothica remains steadfast in her self-assurance that the relationship she sings about is healthier — and better — than she could have ever imagined.

The second single is “Blood,” which fuses the legends of vampires with the dangers of passionate relationships. It’s not hard to make comparisons to such blood-sucking, sexual fiends of the night in a song about love and desire. But Mothica goes a step further and makes herself out to be the vampire in this scenario. She warns her lover, “Shouldn’t have let me in / You’ve just made a grave mistake / More sweet oblivion / ‘Cause now I need another taste” and sings earlier in the chorus about how, “I don’t wanna want your blood / One drop is keeping me alive / What are you running from? / Just stay awake with me all night.” The song starts out with guitars that sound like they’re lifted straight from a Cranberries’ track, before moving into a 2000’s-era AFI-inspired emo style that’s both timeless and timely. Mothica’s sultry, foreboding alto is utilized well here, before almost begging in a mezzo soprano voice to both be let into her lover’s world and to be stayed away from. As the song reaches its climax, listeners are left unsure just how this relationship will turn out.

Both tracks will appear on Mothica’s impressive 17-song sophomore album entitled Nocturnal. She has already released three other singles for the album: “Casualty,” “Vulnerable” and a collaboration with Au/Ra called “Last Cigarette.” Unlike her 2020 debut album, Blue Hour, Mothica looks to produce an album that is both heavy and hopeful this time around. On Nocturnal, she will delve even more into her alt-pop, rock and emo roots, having spent 2021 working with several different producers to create the album. Like with “Bedtime Stories” and “Blood,” Mothica explains what sets her upcoming album apart from her previous work:

“A lot of the songs touch on darkness and being self-destructive … This is me fully planted, making a very visual album that has a complete concept behind it. With this album, I wanted to feel more empowered.”

If “Bedtime Stories,” “Blood” and her other latest tracks are anything to go by, fans of Mothica both old and new can expect an explosive album full of raw emotion and catchy songs at the very beginning of next month. Nocturnal will release July 1 via Heavy Heart Records, which is her imprint with Rise Records / BMG. Starting July 12, she will be touring alongside Coheed and Cambria and Dance Gavin Dance, with an appearance at Aftershock Festival in Sacramento later this autumn. Check out her latest singles, “Bedtime Stories” and “Blood”, below now!