Floating over dappling guitars that pluck and ripple underneath, the soft reflective vocals in ‘This Kinda Day’, the new single from Aotearoa/New Zealand dream pop maestros, Mild Orange, are immersive and melancholy, filled with a deep yearning. ‘This Kinda Day’ shimmers like a mirage: ethereal, enigmatic, immersive and full of hope. Psychedelia and dream pop merge in the most euphoric way.
Despite the melancholy air, there is positivity in the message. Coming from a very personal experience, frontman Josh Mehrtens says of the track:
I was recovering from pneumonia and pleurisy back in October 2020, which nearly wiped me out and left me sick for about six months. With sickness came a period where I experienced an inability to do what I love, and it meant we had to cancel some of our biggest shows to date and some important radio and TV appearances. The disappointment in myself, and letting down others (the band, fans, people involved) weighed heavy on me and sent me downward. But it turned out that my friends, family, and fans were all super supportive and gave me strength. To me, this song represents a lot of growth in perspective, and I’d love to share that appreciation with others in hopes that it might help some not go down a dark path alone.
The lyrics are gentle and optimistic:
It’s not like you’re always like this
Remember how it felt moving forward
But for now – this moment too
Will all make sense someday
The accompanying video is an utterly charming animation, reinforcing the idyll of resilience in the face of adversity, with a powerful message. Merhetens says:
I wanted to show the viewer the perspective of pulling out and out of different headspaces – and figured this could best be done through animation. The song has themes of mental health and the importance of reaching out to your mates, which was a crucial element that needed to be represented in the clip. We wanted the message of normalising reaching out to friends to be included, so that’s why you see the ‘hey’ text to symbolise this, then the character seeing his supportive friends at the end of their turbulent night.
The rays of sunshine emanating from the song flow naturally into the video, and it gladdens the heart to see the light shine on such a topical issue:
You can download/stream the single here.
Formed in 2018, Mild Orange are made up of childhood mates, frontman Josh Mehrtens and lead guitarist Josh Reid, with bassist Tom Kelk and drummer Jack Ferguson. They describe the inspiration for the band’s name as thus:
The colour orange sparks optimism, and a stimulation of warmth and happiness.
On the strength of this track, they are succeeding admirably.
Feature Photograph: Cam Hay
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