New MINKS song 'Araby'

MINKS "Araby" by user5012449

The Cure's Seventeen Seconds meet the Cure's Faith in this song. Best thing I've heard all year. Pure nostalgia is crafted by Sean Kilfoyle singing the nursery rhyme 'Ring Around the Rosies' combined with singing of a "different time." The song is based of off Joyce's short story from the Dubliner, Araby, which tells of a young boy who falls in love with a his friend's sister, and basically stalks her. The story ends with the boy visiting the bazaar, Araby, in order to get a gift there, and when he is stiffed armed by a seller loses all hope for his romance and adult life.

"I stood by the railings looking at her. Her dress swung as she moved her body, and the soft rope of her hair tossed from side to side." - Araby by James Joyce

"Standing there, by the iron gate, on Saturday, I hoped to see you there, the wind beside your hair." - Araby by MINKS

The music keeps the basic MINKS formula going, a steady and strong bass that drives through the whole song is the centerpiece coupled with rhythm guitar that keeps the beat going with the drums that are reminiscent of She's Lost Control by Joy Division. The chorus is a beautiful synth that creates a sound of pure bliss, and this, with the nursery rhyme lyrics and Marresque jangly guitar truly paint a portrait of a first love for us all.

What truly makes this song stand out compared with the rest of MINKS's material is Sean's vocals. They're much more clear, concise, and just straight up good on this track. Something about his voice, though he barely sings on this track, pulls at the heart, it feels almost forced and confined, but, in a way it's suppose to. It's about a boy first discovering love, and the way that Sean sings on this track gets that across phenomenally. That first, insecure, shy, puppy love, not really knowing what you feel. The bridge, "When you smile, oh, oh, Araby." He doesn't explicitly say what it is about her that makes him feel so passionate, simply because he doesn't know what it is about her that he loves, he doesn't even know what he is feeling, just like in the story,

"Her name sprang to my lips at moments in strange prayers and praises which I myself did not understand. My eyes were often full of tears (I could not tell why) and at times a flood from my heart seemed to pour itself out into my bosom."

Ironically this part of the song, along with the chorus, is the only time in the song that Sean really sings, emphasizing that he really does care, that he needs to express it and get it out of his system. Exactly like in the story,

"All my senses seemed to desire to veil themselves and, feeling that I was about to slip from them, I pressed the palms of my hands together until they trembled, murmuring: 'O love! O love!' many times."

This is one of the only MINKS songs that lacks Amalie, and honestly, it works. She wouldn't really fit in too well both musically and lyrically with the whole subject and feeling of the song. Though, her soothing voice is still missed.