Much more famous for its politics than its musical heritage, we don’t seem to come across a lot of bands from Washington, D.C. Mystery Friends are one band looking to put the American capital back on the musical map. The quintet emerged back in 2017 with their debut EP, This Is Not What I Expected, and are currently gearing up to release their debut album later this year. Today we’re premiering the latest track from the band, Empty Nostalgia.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Empty Nostalgia is a track about looking back with rose tinted spectacles, whether that’s to a past realtionship, your youth, or just a supposedly simpler time in the past. As the band explain, “we often tell ourselves things were better or look to the past with rose colored glasses but there is usually a point where we stop kidding ourselves. It’s then where people realize nostalgia for an imperfect past isn’t worth the energy. It’s a tough pill to swallow”.

Musically,  the track, perhaps slightly ironically, does have a certain nostalgic feel to it. The shimmering guitars and driving rhythm section pitching the track somewhere between the anthemic electronic sounds of Chvrches and the early 2000’s indie-electro crossover of bands like The Departure. At the forefront is a jaw-dropping vocal performance from Abby Sevcik, able to ring every drop of urgency from the frenetic choruses and emote her way through the quieter sections with a charismatic ease. Mystery Friends bring a new touch to an old sound, and in doing so create a sound that’s entirely their own.

Past And Future Self is out later this year. Click HERE for more information on Mystery Friends.