Mt. Royal Delights with ‘missing Reward’ [stream]

Not surprisingly, “Missing Reward”, a cheerful, badass ace-of-a track, is just as intricate as the band who created it. Behind the killer, go-lightly/get-moody single is Baltimore band-of-bands concoction, Mt. Royal. Formed by the collaboration between several strong talents, these seasoned musicians seem to have been brought together by fate. Of all the collabs in town, (and we hear there are plenty) this group of Baltimore residents seems to have fine-tuned the art of artist mixology better than the rest.

The stellar essentials behind Mt. Royal’s sound are cosmic-to-my-ears Celebration singer, Katrina Ford, and the cross contaminated instrumentals from bands Lake Trout, Big in Japan, and UNKLE. More specifically, the group includes drummer Michael Lowry, bassist James Griffith and superb keyboardist/woodwinds main man, Matt Peirce. The powerful end result of this pieced together project is the jagged, indie-spectacular, “Missing Reward”.

Playing on the ethereal elements of Beach House and the giddiness of Cults, Mt. Royal shows off a song made up of contrasts and contours, asking that we follow through it’s unpredictable discourse of delight. Joining every somber-riff is a feel-good, serotonin-salted tune, and Mt. Royal unravels this brilliantly bumpy joy ride without missing a beat. With a full-length record in the works, this indie revelation is one to keep an eye on.