MOTHICA Drops New Album “Kissing Death” + New Immersive Music Video for “Another High”
Photo Credit: 𝑨𝑼𝑹𝑬𝑳𝑰𝑨
On Friday August 24th, the multifaceted alt pop artist MOTHICA released her highly anticipated third album KISSING DEATH through her own imprint Heavy Heart Records in partnership with Rise Records/BMG. With KISSING DEATH, the prolific artist dives deeper into her powerful story with an ambitious audio/visual experience giving fans a raw glimpse into her personal life with relatable battles with depression, addiction, and suicidal ideation. It is an immersive story across 12 tracks, with cinematic accompanying music videos, one of which she just released Another High which is a poignant and relatable narrative about the cycles of addiction. KISSING DEATH is a testament to MOTHICA’s artistic evolution.
MOTHICA is known for her confessional songwriting and genre-defying musical releases that blend dark pop with rock, synthwave, goth and electronica for a mesmerizing sonic fusion. The artist has built a fervent fanbase and has amassed hundreds of millions of streams, while further earning acclaim from the likes of Billboard, MTV, Teen Vogue, Buzzfeed, Alt Press, and more.
She shares,
“When I stop one habit, I find new vices to indulge in to keep my mind busy. Some are definitely healthier than others. And I always joke that I wish I was addicted to exercising and sunshine instead of the things that are bad for me.”
Death is an uncomfortable topic that most people avoid thinking about, but MOTHICA decides to dance with it. Vulnerably, she laments her personal battles with depression, addiction, suicidal ideation, processing her pain with lush soundscapes underpinned by funereal keys, heart-thumping hard rock guitars, and disarmingly catchy moments of pop catharsis.
“For my whole life, I’ve romanticized death. In the back of my mind, suicide seemed like a natural and easy solution. When my thoughts get dark, I remind myself that we have an infinite amount of time to ‘not exist.’ For the small sliver I’m here, it’s important to soak up every second and make the most of it. It’s scary to surrender to the unknown, but it’s powerful to not give into my toxic vices anymore’.”
- she states
Born in Oklahoma, she moved to Brooklyn, New York for art school, and is now based in Los Angeles. In 2015, she started independently releasing music, taking a full-on DIY approach utilizing her background as an illustrator and graphic designer to design her own merch and creative direct her music videos. Her story has unfolded across her first two albums, Blue Hour [2020], and NOCTURNAL[2022]. She emerges as the rare creative chameleon who jumps genres from electronic music, left-of-center pop, and recently exploring rock/metal influences, collaborating with Polyphia, Scene Queen and Papa Roach.
Some career highlights include: her independently released VICES which skyrocketed to no. 2 on the Pop iTunes chart in 2020, her song Buzzkill about sexual assault with over 51 million Spotify streams and her rendition of Bring Me The Horizon’s Can You Feel My Heart is a crowd favorite with 25 million Spotify streams. In the last year, she toured North America and Europe with Coheed & Cambria and Halestorm, in addition to various festivals.
Over the last two years, she assembled her most creative vision to date with KISSING DEATH, a captivating visual album that takes listeners on a captivating journey across 12 tracks and their accompanying music videos.
“I decided to make the Grim Reaper a love interest in a dark rom-com-style tale. Throughout the visuals, I’m seen in a therapist's office explaining this complicated relationship as if describing a scorned lover. The videos unfold a surrealist version of my life story.”
I thought, ‘How do I cope with the fact I embrace life so much now that I have a fear of losing it?’ There’s a bit of dark humor, because I wanted to artistically portray what it’s like to live with this shadow following me. If you have struggled with depression, anxiety, or addiction, you can listen to this and maybe find pieces of your own story.”
- she notes
Kissing Death Tracklist
The Void
The Exit
Another High
Doomed
Curiosity Killed The Moth
Red
The Reaper
Toxins
Afterlife
Mirage
Oblivion For Two
Kissing Death
To support the album, MOTHICA has announced headline tours in the US and UK/EU (her first ever headline tour in the markets). Numerous shows have already sold out across these tours while others have been upgraded to larger rooms. She will further perform at this years Mayhem Festival in San Bernardino, CA on Oct 12th.
