There’s an ever-evading pull towards moodier and shadowier forms of pop music. It takes all of the expectations of a chart-ready genre and spins it on its head, allowing that more honest and reflective side of human nature some time in the limelight. By that token, songs like ‘The Chemist’ by FORTS (Mary Clare “Mars” Clemons, Colton Jones, and Isaiah Gutierrez) is a cathartic necessity of our listening habits.
It’s also no mystery that these kinds of songs can be a mode of processing for the musicians involved, as is the case with ‘The Chemist’, which pseudo-anthropomorphises PMDD (Premenstrual dysphoric disorder) as a monster. At battle with this symbolic monster and on a rollercoaster ride of emotions is the band’s Mars who takes on the role of the chemist, struggling to tame this chemical imbalance.
We hear this allegorical tale reflected in the disparate echoes and off-kilter melodies that rattle around the eerie indie-pop soundscape of ‘The Chemist‘. From the minimalist breakbeat through to the tinny vocal warps to the reggaeton-inspired guitar, it’s a tapestry of the unexpected.
You can also listen to ‘The Chemist’ in our Shades of Pop playlist.
Where to find FORTS:
UNRECORDED 
