Published on June 17th, 2024 | by Matt Stinn
0Local Music: The Radiant
Saskatoon’s The Radiant released a brand new single entitled, ‘Formulaic,’ this past Friday. But don’t be misled by the title, the five piece’s new track does anything but follow a predetermined set of rules.
Built on a gritty bobbing rhythm section provided by bassist Evan Khouse and drummer Jordan Admed, the band creates a perfect foundation for vocalist Mikhaila Anderson to build the track’s melody with a smoky alto vocal. This atmosphere is accented by a synth line provided by Mike Reece that is eerily reminiscent of the Muse track, ‘Uprising.’ Whether this was an accidental homage or completely on purpose, it feels entirely fitting considering that I often describe The Radiant to someone who hasn’t heard them before as, “a band definitely influenced by Muse”.
In a fashion I’d describe as on brand for this band, their new single features numerous instrumental breaks that highlight the bands progressive sensibilities while transitioning into well-formatted instrumentals that carefully toe the fine line between showing off musicianship without stepping over their vocalist. When asked about the lyrics and their message, Anderson said, “On an introspective level, it’s about how our actions carry us forward or have the ability to hold us back.”
Fitting with the lyrical theme of choices and change, guitarist Paul Hilacre brings meandering delay-accented guitar lines functions as a counter melody on the track’s pre-choruses and builds into pragmatic sounding walls of distortion on the band’s expansive choruses. That paired with how the bridge builds in an unexpected falsetto vocal performance and I can safely say this track does a great job of surprising me when stacked against the band’s earlier releases. All in, The Radiant deliver a dark, groovy and hard-hitting progressive rock track in ‘Formulaic’ that listeners of Muse, Mutemath, and Minus The Bear should find appealing.
Track – https://open.spotify.com/track/2yBCtgcqvMUrgcX3DrSdOE?si=b061d573256c40fd
Photo Credit: Mac Ulmer