After so many excellent standalone singles, Powers of the Monk returns with another fine piece of sonic artistry that will immediately appeal to all those listeners who appreciate wisely assembled and flawlessly performed music. “Bread & Circuses” is one of their finest works in 2025, arriving after an excellent rendition of “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’,” and the remix of the 2024 standalone single, “Strip The Bone.” This composition showcases their natural progression as clever, knowledgeable musicians whose experience, knowledge, creativity, and ideas expand with each new track. Now, if you follow the contemporary music scene, you probably realized how many music outlets try to reinvent the same old wheel by overly exploiting influences, experimenting too much, or mimicking the greats who played the same style decades ago. Thankfully, Powers Of The Monk is one of those bands that avoid all those cliches and always deliver fresh, unique, innovative, and exciting music that tackles all the senses and forces you to repeat their songs over and over again. That’s the case with “Bread & Circuses,” a song that brings their sonic exploration even further. Lyrically, it is a song about a Schizophrenia patient, with delusions of breaking out of the mental facility, visiting the circus, and seeing the lions eat the clowns. Sonically, the duo delivers a fine blend of various approaches, different techniques, and complementary music genres, merging together in a colossal slab of psychedelic harmony. Perhaps “Bread & Circuses” dominantly explores psychedelic folk sound, but you’ll definitely notice how some of the finest properties borrowed from folk rock, indie folk, folk pop, and classic folk found their way into this sonic equation. It’s a style that suits this band so well, that you’ll gladly spin “Bread & Circuses” over and over again. Although this track carries qualities that meet all the trends in modern music production, you’ll notice a subtle touch of nostalgia lurking around and spicing things up, making “Bread & Circuses” even more appealing to the ears.
Powers of the Monk are masters in crafting the ambiance that immediately wraps around your listening apparatus and refuses to let go long after the last notes and beats end. It’s a hypnotic, addictive, irresistible, and engaging sonic voyage to another dimension, carefully and wisely crafted to tackle all the senses. Every layer, element, detail, nuance, and other piece of the puzzle is implemented with the intention. The vocals play a significant role here, as they serve as the centerpiece of this sonic equation. They command attention, guide listening apparatus, and elevate everything to a new level. As soon as you press play, these vocal harmonies drag you into the whirlwind of perfectly balanced low, mid, and high notes, which, in this case, emphasize everything the band intended to achieve with this song or highlight particular segments. Besides decorating all these orchestrations, the vocal performances also contribute more than necessary emotional depth and detail to an already complex song structure. They continuously float around, helping out in crafting such a calm, soothing, relaxing, otherworldly ambiance. In the meantime, the guitars and other string instruments shape a perfect backdrop for all the vocals to shine upon. The comprehensive collection of catchy, memorable, engaging chord progressions, harmonies, and melodies levitate around, gradually making the ambiance even more detailed, hypnotic, and otherworldly. The addition of delicate synth leads and guitar solos contributes to the psychedelic atmosphere, yet it doesn’t overwhelm it at all. Beneath these lush orchestrations, the bass guitar rumbles, contributing more heaviness, clarity, and depth, while the exceptional drumming performance keeps everything in line and dictates a moderate pace and groove with well-accentuated beats, fills, and other percussive acrobatics. Every instrument has its place and purpose here, making “Bread & Circuses” even more pleasant to the ears.
“Bread & Circuses” is a brilliant psych folk song, crafted by one of the finest contemporary indie duos. Powers of the Monk took the fundamental elements of the genre, transformed them to their personal preference, and constructed a modern psych folk track that breaks all the rules and shapeshifts boundaries of the genre. Therefore, you should immediately place it on your music radar. “Bread & Circuses” is available on all streaming platforms. Don’t miss it!
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