Kid Astray caught everybody's attention a few months ago with "No Easy Way Out", and if there ever was a band that nailed down what it means to capture the spirit of indie-pop, it's this one. Their music isn't trying too hard to play towards those who crave experimental production work or off-beat structure (in fact, their music is pretty straightforward), but what it does do is strike a beautiful balance between the accessibility of pop and the longevity of good indie-rock. Their latest track, "Back To The Ordinary", sounds fresh and relevant, to be sure, but it's not the kind of music that's going to get stale in a couple months after copious amounts of playtime. Too often, producers and artists focus too much on what will sell in the moment, and forget that even if you're in the business of making pop music, you still need something that won't just blend into the other millions of songs that are competing for airplay at any given time. Kid Astray seems to understand this, and have planned accordingly. "Back To The Ordinary" opens up with a pretty-stripped down intro, but from there things get a little more complex, and by the time they've launched into the chorus, you're reminded of other bands like The Colourist, Little Daylight, and maybe even Mr Little Jeans in the way they deftly blend different melodies and vocal lines. They're not pushing too hard on the distortion, but this isn't just a synth-pop track, either, and the funky bassline ensures that the tone feels organic enough to keep the song from sounding like it was produced in a bedroom. As a result, we're excited to see how this track fits in with their larger release scheme, and if they keep it up at this pace, there's no telling how big they could get. "Back To The Ordinary" is the third and final single taken from Kid Astray's forthcoming three-track EP ("Taking You With Me" and "No Easy Way Out" are the other two), and you can catch them all December 15th when they release together. Kid Astray's debut full-length will follow sometime next year.
Kid Astray