Song of the Day: Unknown Mortal Orchestra “Multi-Love”

Unknown Mortal Orchestra is a New Zealand band primarily comprising singer/ guitarist/ songwriter Ruban Nielson and bassist Jake Portrait. The band’s output is a mixture of psychedelic rock and the type of falsetto forward dance pop that you would expect to hear from someone like Justin Timberlake. “Multi-Love” is the title track and lead single from UMO‘s 2015 album and features a great electric piano riff, an infectious groove and a trippy music video. You can hear bits and pieces of everything from contemporary indie to Queen to Timbaland in the song. The song is part of a theme album detailing a tumultuous and transforming year in Nielson‘s romantic life.

Unknown Mortal Orchestra were founded in 2010 after Nielson opted to leave his previous group, The Mint Chicks. The band have released four albums to date, including most recently the critically well-received Sex & Food which dropped earlier this year. Paste Magazine called the band “a modern, beat-heavy take on ’60s psych, with plenty of hooks and fuzz to get you hooked and feeling fuzzy.” This seems to be a pretty apt description of their sound. The group continues to go from strength to strength and show no sign of stopping.