Song of the Week: Mellow

If ever there was a song that lived up to its name so thoroughly and completely, it's Mellow. This track is so chilled that all of your troubles start to melt away the moment it starts playing. You just get lost swaying to the music and let the melody carry you off somewhere far away from deadlines and tedious responsibilities.

I know I use the word 'nostalgic' a lot to describe many of the Skinner Brothers tracks, but this one is nostalgic in a different sort of way. Like it was plucked right out of the opening credits to Dawson's Creek, or it came across the radio back when it was customary for parents to leave their kids unattended in hot cars while they ran into the store for a few minutes. (It's all fun and games until it's time to choose a nursing home...)

In fact, this song is SO nostalgic that it actually references other Skinner Brothers songs right in the lyrics! In the beginning, just before the music kicks in, you can hear people singing the opening verse to Put Me Down As A Maybe. That same verse also directly mentions Jericho Star, and the song later goes on to mention Mountain High as well. Have you seen Inception? I haven't, but even I know that this is basically that.

Whether it's the captivating vocals or the laissez-faire guitar hook that keep you mashing the replay button, there is no disputing the fact that Mellow is a pleasantly unobtrusive track that was simply born into the wrong generation.

Welcome back to the 90's, ladies and gentlemen! Now quick, handcuff yourself to something sturdy so we don't have to leave again!

In my humble (yet always completely accurate) opinion, the 90's were the zenith of human experience—you can't change my mind. Everything was an uphill battle before the 90s, and it's been steadily going downhill ever since. Not 'going downhill' in the sense of it getting any easier, mind you, but 'downhill' like what happened to Hot Topic when they started selling Anime crap instead of alt clothes. Yes, I know that reference is lost on my UK friends, but don't worry—I got your back, (Union)Jack!

Maybe the 90s are like anything else—easy to romanticize in hindsight, but surely people back then had their own struggles, too? Like housing being so cheap that all the extra money you had lying around created a fire hazard or something? What the hell do I know, I was a baby. But you know what problem people in the 90's didn't have? Bad music.

Everything from the 90s to early 2000s, right down to the music scene, was at peak performance. If it weren't for the Skinner Brothers coming along much later, I would have said we should have just stopped it all right there. Some kind of an announcement could have gone out saying that all the music we need has been made already, and everyone else can just take up pottery or something. And in many ways, the world would have been a better place.

We'll chalk that up to a missed opportunity, I guess. But as the title suggests, Mellow is the kind of song you put on when you're trying to relax at the end of a long day. It's not what I would describe as a “party anthem,” but more like a “please leave by 9pm” anthem. The entire track has a vibe that screams “do whatever you want, just leave me out of it,” and as an introvert I can respect that. It's laid back and slow burning, but still catchy enough that you'll find yourself singing it in the shower whether you have music playing in the background or not. We've already covered how the guitar transports you straight back into the 90s, but it was the emotive delivery of the lyrics that drew me in, personally.

Don't fuck with my mellow

I guess that's no surprise considering I've said many times that Soul Boy II is my favorite album, and Mellow was released the same year (2022) as part of the Lonedon EP. Zac has mentioned in passing that he didn't care for some of his vocal choices from that time period (specifically what he described as an exaggerated London accent), but I respectfully disagree. Not about the accent part, I'm too American to notice anything like that, so I'll just have to take his word for it. But vocally, Soul Boy II was a masterpiece.

It was exceptionally gritty and raw, and much of that same energy carried over to the Lonedon EP, and subsequently Mellow. The entire EP seemed to act as a bridge between the SB of the past and the SB we've come to know today, and I don't think there's anything wrong with loving the current sound while still acknowledging that they just don't make them like they used to.

Maybe that's where the nostalgic feeling originates from with this tune—it feels like a door closing on a well-loved chapter in Skinner Brothers history. On the one hand, you're sad to see it go, but on the other hand, progress doesn't come from sitting still and stagnating. To shamelessly quote Semisonic (in the spirit of the 90s, after all) “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.”

Well, shit. Now I've gone and depressed myself. Here's photographic evidence of my cat telling me it's time to quit while I'm ahead.

☘️🖤