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Symphonic cyber-punkers Fluorescent Ink have bottled nostalgic nanoseconds, emotional explorations and spellbinding stories into their first-ever extended play (EP) record, set to be released tomorrow.
Called Cheesebites EP, the record is a musical mosaic that distils the motley crew’s distinct sounds, ideas and experiences into six vastly-different songs.
Fluorescent Ink is comprised of Bahraini lead guitarist and backing vocalist Mishal Nassim, Saudi-American vocalist and lyricist Sara AlSayed, Bahraini drummer and producer Mohammed Ishaq aka Buslooh and Bahraini bassist Mohammed Kooheji, better known as Moko.
“Our music is all about life experiences,” Buslooh, 34, told GulfWeekly.
“It starts with a funny story that each of us shares, and if we feel it is worth talking about then it’s worth writing a song about.
“Cheesebites covers a bunch of different sounds and topics. We talk about some serious topics including being angry or hurt, being in denial and indifferent, and then there’s a song about frogs... actually, it’s about being ungrateful.”
In the EP’s first track, Cheesebites, the band brings in a modern rock vibe, and talks about peer pressure and feeling out of place, reminding listeners about the thoughts that go through one’s mind while hanging around and eating snacks – the eponymous cheese bites.
In the cyber-punky Empty Space, insecurities take centre stage as the band croons about being introspective and realising that it’s okay to fail from time to time.
Dear Patronizer takes aim at braggadocios who talk down to others as a way of ‘flirting’, without picking up on social cues, in a slower four-minute ditty that evokes musical memories of the 1950s.
Frogs in the Bayou blends vivid imagery and bluesy vibes with a message about being ungrateful and only realising what we may have after losing it.
The fifth track, 4AM, calls back to the 90s, with a punk melody that sounds like it was plucked out of the opening sequence to an old-school coming-of-age comedy that features a zany montage about getting to school on time. The message, however, could not be more different.
“This song is special... it’s about unexpected betrayal, and a phone call that happens at 4am,” explained Sara, 26.
“The feelings are expressed not only in words but also in the tones underneath.”
Triangle is the final track on the EP, and in the acoustic ballad, the song takes a poignant look at friendships and relationships that may seem strange from time to time.
Cheesebites EP was recorded at the Distorted Studio in Riffa, with the cover art designed by Hussain ‘Sketch’ AlSabah.
“Sketch has incorporated elements from every song into the art and we are very excited to unveil it!” Mishal, 28, said.
“For each track, there is also artwork that we did as a band. Some are photography experiments, and others are digital drawings. Each track has an image that represents the idea of the song or a play on words.”
The band has been building up to the EP release since earlier this year, and already has a couple of collaborations with Dubai-based Pop Suicide under its belt.
Over the summer, the band worked with the UAE duo, Mansoor Ali and Jullz Bek, in crafting Error and Spaceman in Red, which were released in July and August, respectively.
“We have been following Pop Suicide on social media and one day, they posted about needing help with a track so we messaged them and after a virtual audition, we wrote some lyrics which they sampled in their song Error,” Sara recollected.
“They were so impressed that they asked us to come up with another collaborative track and that led to Space Man in Red. We are always open to collaboration but in the right time and space, of course.”
Cheesebites EP drops tomorrow on all major online music platforms.
For more details, follow @fluorescentinkofficial on Instagram.
