Chosen by Monk
My latest choice sees these Chicago pop punk veterans turning their attention from the glory days of their youth to exploring the handling of a toxic relationship by drowning oneself in alcohol with the latest extraction from their new album, ‘Youth’.
Having teamed up with fellow pop punk legend Jaret Reddick for lead single ‘When We Were Young‘, they now have joined forces with Spencer Charnas of Ice Nine Kills for ‘Hate You Sober’:
MEST frontman Tony Lovato told us a bit about the recording of ‘Youth’, which is the first of three albums the band are planning to release this year as they look both back at their approaching 30-year career and forward to what the road ahead may hold for them:
The drives to the studio were about an hour and 20 minutes long. A lot of my inspiration for this record was found on those drives. I would just listen to all the records that I grew up listening to. Which brought back a ton of memories. It would just put me in another state of mind.
The majority of ‘Youth’ was written up in the hills of Los Angeles where I recorded a bunch of our early records. I would get random flashbacks seeing spots I hadn’t seen in years. But as much as I love all the memories and stories of the past, I’m not one to think that the best days are over. I’m creating new core memories and living my life now, so that in 20 years I’ll look back fondly. The same as I do now. These songs are a cheers to the past with a here’s to the future.
- ‘Youth‘ is released on Friday 21 June.
- MEST play The New Cross Inn in London this Wednesday (5 June) and Thursday (6 June).