Following their psychedelic debut in 2022, Misty Island presents their second full-length studio album: Apocalypse in Living Color! Recorded in 12 months between the summers of 2023 and 2024, this album brings the band's instinct for atmospheric & descriptive arrangements to a moodier and more intense place. Band leader Brandon Davis writes music with lyrical themes of loneliness and desperation, with sounds that will transport you to a gloomy dreamlike state with tasteful use of distorted guitars, swirling synthesizers, experimental soundscapes, and even a few acoustic folk tunes in the mix. All of this while maintaining some of that classic psychedelic sound Misty Island has come to be associated with. Welcome to the latest musical experience from Misty Island: Apocalypse in Living Color.

"Requiem for the Fallen Angel" was the first taste of the band's new direction, released as a single ahead of the new album in December 2023. This single featured a baroque piano riff, heavy overdriven guitars, haunting synth choirs and organs, funeral bells, and a wailing guitar solo that provided a gothic tone that was new to Misty Island listeners. Combined with the dark lyrics telling the story of a lonely runaway girl who works in a city as a prostitute, this song was a stark contrast to the sunshine-filled psychedelia of the band's first album, Illustrations.

Despite an overall darker tone, Davis's musical instincts ensure that the heavier sound serves to create the vivid sonic paintings that Misty Island is known for illustrating in their music. The open-ended, unanswerable chord progression of the album's introductory piece, "Questions," reflects the lyric's complicated personal and philosophical inquiries. "Higher Than the Mountains" musically encapsulates intense feelings of a panic attack, with a fiery guitar lick and driving bassline that correlates with the thumping heartbeat described in the surrealist lyricism. "So Tired" is an auditory representation of insomnia, with a lethargic tempo that gradually becomes more restless and chaotic, until the track is consumed by the washy noise that represents the tired mind's racing thoughts.

Apocalypse in Living Color covers a wide range of moods, represented on the album cover by the yin-yang imagery of a raven and a dove in a dogfight. The album's darker indulgences include "Lonely Shadows," an eerie song detailing the painful end of a relationship, ordained with harpsichord, pizzicato strings, and a lo-fi hip-hop beat that contrasts the more symphonic orchestration. In contrast, the album's moments of levity can be found in the warm campfires and invitations to sing along through the folky "When You Need a Friend," and the encouraging, motivational words found in the bouncy, uplifting indie pop beat of "Do Whatever You Like."

This album features a wide range of influences, including psychedelia, folk, jazz, stoner rock, avant-garde, electronica, shoegaze, hip-hop, and indie pop. Each song offers its own unique world to escape to under the headphones, ensuring a complete and satisfying experience when listening from the inquisitive melodies of "Questions" to the somber finale of "Ember." Enjoy Misty Island's sophomore album: Apocalypse in Living Color!