Super Massive Releases “Caught In A Web”
Gold Coast dance-rock act, Super Massive, have released their ninth single Caught In A Web – a beachy, summery banger that blends electro, electro-pop, dance-pop, synthpop and EDM.
Starting with a whispery vocal that seductively invites you to “Just lie back. Oh... relax”, the song soon kicks into an infectious beat that builds to a drop as big as a barrel at Kirra Beach, before sweeping all in its path along on a glorious, pumping, four-on-the-floor chorus with surf rock influences.
Written, recorded and produced by Glenn Abbott & Malina Hamilton-Smith (Super Massive), the song was mixed and mastered by two people with some of the best ears in the business: –
Daniel Denholm, one of Australian’s most ARIA-nominated engineers, mixed the song (Sia, Powderfinger, Lime Cordiale, INXS, Kylie Minogue, Silverchair, Midnight Oil and many more).
Michael Lynch brought his many years of commercial experience to mastering the track (Snob Scrilla, Endorphin, Something For Kate, Jimmy Barnes, John Butler Trio, Midnight Oil and more).
Featuring compelling vocals and creative lyrics by singer/songwriter Malina Hamilton-Smith, Caught In A Web is an upbeat siren song – a digital-age fable – about the invisible ties that connect people, with under-layers about the increasingly merging virtual/real life interface that eloquently capture the zeitgeist of life for all of us human beings in the year 2024.
Completely flipping EDM on its head, the song’s squelching cyber-injected synths and electronic bass are driven by a fusion of electronic and real drum sounds, played with cracking finesse by arguably one of the best drummers in the country, Glenn Abbott (Machine Gun Fellatio, Disco Disciples, Vrag, Bryan Ferrysexual Experience, Shaftman, Tim Freedman, Murray Cook & Soul Movers).
Sharp handclaps, shaker sounds and an 80s-tinged electronic snare mesh with pounding organic rock toms, kick drum & cymbals to create a unique, propulsive dance-inducing beat unlike anything else on the radio waves or in the ether right now.
Crank it up, lie back and enjoy it. You’re in good hands ;)
Glenn says the musical inspiration for the song came out of nowhere. He wasn’t listening to anything in particular at the time and didn’t base it on any other tracks. It just came together as its own unique composition. “We love the way it’s come together and hope people love it as much as we do,” Glenn said.
Pressed to draw some sort of comparison to music he listens to, Glenn describes the track as a “happy version of a Depeche Mode song – if Depeche Mode ever decided to write an upbeat, happy song, maybe it would sound like this. But I didn’t write it with any other particular songs in mind.”
Speaking about the lyrics, Malina said “The lyrics are working on two levels. There’s the upbeat, beachy vibe with words to do with lying back and relaxing and pleasure and connectedness to people you are close to, but also there’s also a more sinister subtext in the verses about privacy and how information shared online can be manipulated.
“People have physical ties and emotional ties that connect them to each other, but now we have these virtual ties pulling on us as well, that we have to deal with.
“Originally, I was thinking about catfishing, romance scams, hacking and individual predators targeting people, but now with AI, algorithms and advertising targeting upon us, we’re seeing that kind of data harvesting much more on a grand, corporate scale. It’s invasive and pretty scary. It’s the hunter vs the hunted, the real world vs virtual reality. We’re in the middle of this transition right now where the two are being fused together and it’s hard for anyone to know what to believe and trust. Glenn and I feel more and more like we want to get away from what the world-wide web is evolving into because we don’t like the way it filters, manipulates and boxes you in – or sucks your time.
“This song has been going down really well in our live set and that’s where I’d rather be – getting real life catharsis dancing to music with a group of real life friends. That’s why music is so special, and why live music is so essential,” Malina said.
Caught In A Web will be released digitally on 15 November 2024 through Bandcamp and all online music distributors and streaming services.
Super Massive are working towards a mini-album release and touring in early 2025, to be announced in due course.
