London-based artist Rob Mawer stirs on his debut single “Cairo,” a darkly cinematic success with visions of nighttime haunts — bolstered further by a series of music videos that depict the titular location “as a nightmarish nightclub.” A memorable vocal brooding combines with a tight mix of guitars, synths, and rhythms that invoke a post-punk engrossment. Lyrical references to darkness and creeping shadows add to a soundscape-filled allure, concocting a ghost-town and eerie alleyways that feel extracted from a lost Lynch film.
“I started writing it after visiting Cairo and being struck by the seemingly lawless and chaotic nature of the city,” Mawer says of the single. “It stirred something hedonistic in me and compelled me to write a dark writhing rock song to exorcise this sensation.”
“Cairo” quickly consumes in its atmospheric pop/rock cohesion and atmospheric intrigue. “My time is running out / My patience is wearing thin,” a sturdy vocal declaration moves amidst pulsating synth-bass and moody guitar twangs. “Like in Cairo,” a more expressive vocal unveils, into a foreboding “more trouble ’round the bend,” ominousness. “London has my heart, but Cairo has my soul,” Mawer lets out in the riveting conclusion. The crawling guitars and steady rhythms combine with the haunting title-touting reference for a delectably nocturnal soundscape with post-punk, rock, and pop synergy.
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The track is also featured in the genre-based, best-of Spotify compilation Emerging Indie Pop.
We discovered this release via MusoSoup.
