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Mettle Lark — Love Letter to the Future
(Bandcamp no#, 2025, DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2025-06-27

Love Letter to the Future Cover art

Mettle Lark is a relatively new Seattle band fronted by Gretta Harley, who is a veteran of the city’s music scene going back to the 90s with a variety of bands like Maxi Badd and Danger Gens, along with performance and theatrical projects touching on jazz and experimental music. She’s joined by similarly experienced musicians Fred Speakman (guitar), Dave Pascal (bass), and Kai Strandskov (drums); we’ve encountered Strandskov before in Everything Oscillating and Ping Pong Pang; Speakman’s resume starts in the 90s with My Name and Officer Down; and Pascal has credits stretching back to the 80s (full disclosure: including projects I’ve worked on as well) including both jazz and rock. Love Letter to the Future is the debut EP by the four, though they’ve been playing live shows for a while now. These five songs provide powerful backing to Harley’s keyboards and vocals, with a leaning towards classic sounds and even touches of progressive rock. Her voice has a somewhat unusual tone, which some listeners may find pleasantly distinctive and others not so pleasant. I fall in the former category — she’s very expressive, and her lyrics have a lot to say. She waxes political on “21st Century,” but “Monsters” and “Trees” focus on more personal and psychological topics. In all cases, standard rock-song topics are avoided. The arrangements are very dynamic, with quiet sections contrasted by loud parts of punk intensity, and there are many unexpected twists both structurally and harmonically. Mettle Lark represents a fresh take on rock music, infusing post-grunge with sophisticated touches that coalesce into a unique style.

Filed under: New releases, 2025 releases

Related artist(s): Mettle Lark

More info
http://mettlelark.bandcamp.com/album/love-letter-to-the-future

 

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