Lycio – I Will Take Over

On their Facebook page Lycio identify their music as electronic alt-pop, but that doesn’t fully describe the pure angst and euphoria which tenth single ‘I Will Take Over’ exudes. On IWTO, the trio (Genny Mendez, Charlie Kellie and Alex Lowe) are bold, brash and unafraid.

It’s currently a trend to make a track sound heavier and rockier by exacerbating the traditional guitar bass with deep electronics, but rarely does it elevate a track quite in the same way as here. The band discovered a pulsating, choppy (at times, almost apocalyptic) sub-bass setting on synth player Kellie’s self programmed rig; which he especially designed and programmed to play Lycio’s songs live. When the band found this effect, it inspired drummer Lowe to come up with the unique, linear, almost hip-hop style drum groove, which characterises the first half of the song. This isn’t the only innovation behind the track – the structure forgoes the second verse, and instead goes straight into a vocal breakdown after the first chorus. It certainly helps to maintain the track’s fresh energy. Additionally, I love the reverb effect at the end of the track. Having already listened five times, I don’t think I’ll be stopping any time soon.

The aggressive soundscape of IWTO influenced singer Mendez on her lyrical direction. Of the lyrics she writes “This song is mostly about me (and the rest of Lycio) coming up. An anthem to let the music industry, to let the world know that we are done taking its shit. When we came into the game, we were once wide eyed and naïve. Eager to please and maybe even brown nose a little. But then you grow and realise that the world is run by terrible people and it’s perfectly acceptable to look out for no.1 sometimes. And I think that’s what we’re going to be doing from now on. We’re definitely over being pushed around or overlooked. Someday, we’ll take over.”

Ryan Powell