Give To World Voice

“Mystery Jets” are a four-piece indie rock band from Twickenham, London. They were formed before 2005 and currently they comprise of Blaine Harrison (Vocals, Keyboards and Percussion), William Rees (Guitar, Percussion, Keyboards and Vocals), Kai Fish (Bass, Guitar and Vocals), Kapil Trivedi (Drums). Mystery Jets aso have an additional member Henry Harrison.

Twenty One welcomes us with opener “Hideaway”. It starts off with some sirens, as if some houses or buildings are on fire and waiting for the arrival of Firemen. Before long, the bass just comes in with a lazy and draggy sound to it joined by steady drum beats. It has this disco feeling too. Blaine first takes on the vocals until it reaches a part where Mystery Jets just sings together with a lower voice tone, “Undercover lover, took a record off the stack. Undercover lover, left his parka on the rack. Undercover lover, left the tarmac on the track…” After that, they again choir and go, “Hideaway, hideaway….Oh…” Mystery Jets already got me singing and asking for more, really good here…

Mystery Jets next put their magic touches on “Young Love” with the help of singer Laura Marling. It has a distant drum in the beginning and joined shortly by the somewhat catchy bass. On Young Love, i can also hear that Mystery Jets are taking on the vocals together again. They just go on with some really witty lyrics, “If i only knew your name i’d go from door to door, searching all the crowded streets for the face that i once saw, if i only knew your name i’d go from door to door, tell me have you seen the girl i met just once before…” When the chorus comes, they just have fun and with some members of Mystery Jets doing some back up vocals. In the bridge, Young Love just gets onto another level with Laura Marling vocals. It’s one of the best moments on the track. It’s magically fun here, and addictive too. Enjoy! Such a fun song where Mystery Jets can’t help but to sing together!

“Half In Love With Elizabeth” already surprises us with the chorus in the beginning. In the verse where Blaine sings, the bass seems to work very well with him. Not only that, the backing vocals by Mystery Jets also add some extra spices to Blaine’s vocals. In the bridge, Mystery Jets bring back some moments from Making Dens with the backing vocals as Blaine goes, “The Bubble will burst…” I just like how they blend together in the verse, it sounds very catchy there.

“Flakes” slows down the tempo on Twenty One. Flakes showcases Blaine’s vocals most of the times. It seems to drown out the music itself every time Blaine raises his singing tone at every ending paragraph. Getting on to the bridge and break, Mystery Jets get together and harmonize their vocals with some beautiful howlings. Flakes contains some really good vocal pieces by Mystery Jets. I’m slowly falling in love with Flakes on Twenty One.

“Veiled In Grey” really contains some light and catchy guitar strumming. Just like Flakes, at every ending paragraph, Blaine leaves a very catchy sound piece that sounds really good to our ears. He seems to be able to twist the words as he likes effortlessly. As this song grows on, it reaches a point where the whole music takes another turn and Blaine goes, “I’ll bet you wouldn’t believe me, if I whispered in your ears and said I can see a pink elephant. And it’s standing on the corner of the bed, you’ll just smile and roll your eyes to the back of your head….” The music that follows after this turn to a high pitch and indicates to us that Mystery Jets have reached their climax on Veiled In Grey. If you like this part, now you surely have to wait until the amazing ending!

“Two Doors Down” builds your curiousity up once it enters the verse with Blaine’s vocals. When reaching the part before the chorus, the music and rhythm just gets you into another zone. You’d be moving your body or nodding your heard now. In the chorus, Blaine just goes, “I know I’m in love, with a girl who lives…” while the remaining members of Mystery Jets just helped out and sing, “Two Doors Down…”. The music in the chorus also creates a big impact with the guitar and pitching keyboard. Two Doors Down just brings me back to the 80s, or even the 60s. Even Saxaphone can be heard here! This track is really something!

“MJ” starts off with Mystery Jets going, “Don’t tell anyone…” It sounds very serious though with their voice tone. The music on this track is very groovy with the start/stop influence. In the chorus, Blaine is greatly assisted by members of Mystery Jets. He would sing one phrase, then the remaining members of Mystery Jets will follow with, “What we’ve got going on…”. They complement one another very evenly. The bass in the background is also worth mentioning. Overall, the whole track is very cheeky and groovy. Love the start/stop elements!

“Umbrellahead” begins with piano and keyboards. It gives an acoustic impression at first. As Blaine sings, both the piano and keyboards just keep playing in the background. In the verse, you would find Blaine sings to build up the the track’s momentum. Once it reaches the chorus, Blaine goes, “Please don’t turn me into a man, because I don’t want to see my skin fold, oh please, wont you keep me as I am, oh people look so lonely when they’re old…” There is also horn in the second chorus upon the ending. It seems that Mystery Jets don’t want to grow old. And it’s surely a good thing for us!

“Hand Me Down” has a really catchy bassline going on since it comes on. Mystery Jets are rocking it out on this track. Even Blaine’s voice manages to deliver here, though he isn’t really suitable to belt out such tune. I mean he’s better doing a ballad like Flakes. In the chorus, Blaine can be heard singing in a very catchy way. When Mystery Jets go, “Do you love him…?” Blaine will just add in a robotic voice like a ball bouncing from left to right of the walls, “Maybe you do, maybe you don’t, maybe you will but maybe you won’t…” It’s plain simple but simply catchy! And the bass and the guitar also stand out in Hand Me Down! Wonderfully awesome! Try it!

I like the opening of “First To Know”. The guitar and bass create a sound of their own, especially the guitar which is somewhat echoic in the beginning. In the verse, Blaine sings in a voice that indicates that he might be tired from all the singing. But still, he sounds good. When it comes to the chorus, Mystery Jets just get together again and sing, “The first to know….” in repetition. Whenever the music brings back the echoic guitar that we first heard in the beginning, we would know that something is about to happen. First To Know also contains some loud guitar works that we rarely hear from Mystery Jets. I like it, really! Mystery Jets end Twenty One with

“Behind The Bunhouse”. It’s a track that lengths over 12 minutes as it contains a hidden track “Twenty One”. On Behind The Bunhouse, it starts off with the sound of a TV which lost its reception. Soon it’s followed by a high-pitched sound which i strongly think that it’s created by a synthesizers. In the verse, the music just goes on like that as Blaine sings. Upon reaching the chorus, the music begins to sound louder and fuller with the guitar. Blaine can be heard singing slowly, “But honey, why did you go behind the bunhouse? Didn’t you know how much I had to give? You knocked me over the head with a rolling pin, and then you got down and you kicked me in the ribs…” As the second verse starts, the whole track picks up the tempo, the drums come in to help adding extra weight as well. Lovely track here! The hidden track which is also the title track “Twenty One”, starts approximately at 7 minutes 35 seconds. Piano can be heard playing once it starts after a period of silence. Blaine just keeps on singing as the piano keeps playing in the background. It takes a while to grow into this track. It really comes as a surprise as i didn’t expect a hidden track. Nonetheless, Blaine’s voice seems to be able to create a surrounding wall of sound. Imagine how much effort he puts into singing this song. My respects for you, Blaine.

Cheers!Darren TanIndiesurf.com

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