[Album Review] Miro Shot - 'Content'

In the final track, “Boston Dynamic”,  off Miro Shot’s debut EP Servers, recently my mind has casually fixated on a lyric quite frequently as we complete our 2nd month of quarantine in New York,

“As soon as we begin again I’ll restore our fallen friends.”

Since I have been granted the honor of getting albums in advance, I had already been playing their debut full-length, Content, for quite some time before the world ground to a halt. I had also already written something quite lovely about the album, delighted with myself that a cohesive group of words actually came to me that quickly about a record that I was obviously very taken with. However, as it came time to publish those words, the context of how this album would enter the world completely changed. Even so, listening to Content with a totally different perspective of the world, I firmly stand by my stance that Miro Shot is the soundtrack to the future we deserve. I know that in addition to this whole ordeal shining a light on the multitude of societal problems across the globe that  a lot of people have been saying that they’re devoting some portion of their quarantine taking stock in their pre-quarantine lives and thinking about the types of changes they want to make for themselves and their communities. It is my hope that Content be included in a portion of that meditative process.

Opening with, “A World You Made Yourself”, the broody track kicks off the album’s venture into self-exploration, thoughtfully navigating the boundless complexities of our very modern, very online world. Tackling society’s cumbersome relationship with technology and all that it entails, from the rampant online harassment women often face to the way that social media distorts our realities while disguising itself as a way to “connect” to our loved ones and everything in between, Content is essentially that moment when you decide to switch your phone to airplane mode and shift your focus to where you’re at in that very instance, as well as every subsequent screen tap once you switch back for that matter.

Tracks that hit so differently since the world changed: “Joined At The Hip”, album closer “I.R.L.”, with the most dramatic transformation being, “Seven Seas”, featuring Mary Wilson of Supremes fame. I already revered the track as a stunning glitch gospel in its own right, but the imagery that the chorus alone evokes in the current climate is enough to simultaneously warm your heart and send shivers down your spine:

 “When you’re lost but you can’t stand the silence / When your face looks nothing it used to do / When the sand has shifted instead / And that crown was pulled from your head / I’ve got you and you’ve got me.”

Without a doubt the world is going to be a very different place post-pandem. Hopefully it’s a world as full of potential as Miro Shot envisions, mindful of the obstacles we need to address in order to succeed. The cosmic timeliness of this band and the relevancy of Content and the future it stands for, especially right now, is something I sincerely hope folks won’t sleep on.

Content is available now on all DSPs.

Full album stream: