When Mount St. Helen burst onto the scene with their debut Pariahs in 2023, it was a genuine moment of excitement. Two years later, we have the second release, and the feeling is equally euphoric.
Introducing Mount St. Helen
Mount St Helen is the alias of Oxford-based multi-instrumentalist Aris Sabetai, who is joined in the live setting by Francesco Reni (Guitar), Joe Smith (Bass) and Ryan Taylor-Costin (Drums).
Sabetai began Mount St. Helen during Lockdown, blending his love of 90s guitar music with ethereal strings and pop sensibilities. His music draws on a range of influences including indie cinema, animation, poetry, culture, religion and even a fear of flying.
The music centres around themes of nostalgia, faithlessness and loser-dom. The stark black and white aesthetic of Mount St. Helen helps make them feel significant from the outset and perfectly matches the music, which perfectly balances introversion with optimism and hope.
New Single ‘Helpless’
The new single ‘Helpless’ introduces a subtle shift in sound. They often say music is a product of its environment, and in this case, the inspiration is drawn from the Oxford sound of early 90s Shoegaze bands like Ride and Chapterhouse.
This sits in contrast to their debut Pariahs, which comfortably lived in a space of euphoric indie rock, with subtle nods to Coldplay in its use of strings.
Helpless is described as a meditation on ecstasy in the face of peril. Lyrically, it imagines what higher powers might think as they witness the chaos we create with global warming, religious war, and endless division.
Yet you might think that would sound bleak, the Shoegaze textures envelop the track with a cosy blanket of uplifting hope.
It’s a song about looking down but feeling up, dancing in the storm, seizing the day. The final section, inspired by antiphonal choral music, reconciles our forsakenness with an uplift of sound that aims to take off and become airborne. Helpless is thus ultimately a testament to life and the living.
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Words Mark Knight
