MP3: The Opium Cartel - Better days ahead
"Better days ahead" by The Opium Cartel starts out like melancholic art-rock, but quickly changes direction once the palm-muted guitar and moog comes in. From there it goes in all sorts of directions; prog to pop to psychrock and back to art-rock yet again. It works well though, even the cowbell on the chorus and the wacky tone-bending synth breakdown somehow make sense in context of the whole. Nothing feels forced, it all just flows. I discover new sounds almost every time I listen too, which makes it all that much better. For example, the pizzicato strings at the halfway point. And the Edge-like guitar licks that come in soon thereafter. It seems so convoluted to talk about it, but they make it sound effortless.
The Opium Cartel - Better days ahead