To call Mike Ross a musician with a lot of strings to his bow is to massively underestimate this one-man outlaw archer band. Not only is he a long-haired, guitar-slinging badass, he’s also a talented multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, songwriter AND producer. This killer combination of talents come to the fore once more with Mike’s fantastic third single from his eagerly-awaited, forthcoming album ‘The Clovis Limit Pt.2′: ‘Don’t Say a Word’ (out now on all digital platforms.)
Two singles have already dropped from the album: ‘The Loser’ then ‘None of Your Business’, earning airplay and acclaim, particularly on Planet Rock where ‘None of Your Business’ was playlisted 4 weeks in a row on Wyatt Wendels’ ’New Rock’ show. The third single to drop, ‘Don’t Say a Word’, shows Mike’s constant musical variety, range and imagination.
Check out the video to ‘Don’t Say a Word’
“Picture, if you will,” says Mike, “a conspiracy theorist: a stuck-in-the mud, head-in-the-sand individual whose dissonance and denial are so strong that they distort the person’s whole reality, rendering them incapable of recognising their own part and role in a situation. Someone who’s so blind to their own hypocrisy that even when they’re exposed as a liar and fraud, the message just doesn’t get through. So, what’s the message for that person? Just keep your mouth shut and DON’T SAY A WORD!”
Musically, you’ll find some fascinating curveballs in the track. The recording features a memory direct from Mike’s childhood: the sampled sound of a ‘laughing bag’, which he lovingly remembers as a favourite possession of his late ‘Grandad Jim’.
Also buried in the mix (beneath a take-no-prisoners army of screaming hot guitars and vocals) are weird and wonderful homebrew synth sounds, courtesy of a WWII-era army surplus oscillator! Another unique feel to the track came from drummer Darren Lee’s decision to replace his usual hi-hats with a cowbell, giving a powerful driving feel to the backbeat.
‘Don’t Say a Word’s accompanying video continues the heady trip and takes it further! A lone astronaut travels on the empty Underground A-Train. Roads, lights and hi-tech kaleidoscope echo 2001’s fabled, trippy stargate sequence.Weird space, sci-fi and psychedelic hi-tech kaleidoscope images merge with subterranean reality, as we travel endlessly through curving tunnels and bursts of purple psychotropic DMT visuals. It all comes together to stake out a unique reality for this song.
“For a set of songs and recordings that are 99% Mike Ross doing everything,” raved Music Republic Magazine, reviewing ‘The Clovis Limit Pt.2′, “this is pretty impressive stuff.
Andy Snipper, reviewing for Music-News went on to say “a must for any rock lovers.”
So: Don’t say a word! Check out Mike Ross’s latest single and video, and watch out, with bated breath, for ‘The Clovis Limit Pt.2’ which drops on Friday 30th October (on both physical CD format & Digital release) on Taller Records via CARGO Distribution.
‘Don’t Say a Word’ is now available to stream or download on all digital platforms https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/mikeross/dont-say-a-word-2
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.
