MOD SUN ft Avril Lavigne, Flames
Big Noise Music Group

Avril Lavigne is royalty, so obviously we’re going to perk up when we see her name on a track. It’s especially exciting to see her collab with MOD SUN at the very forefront of the emo renaissance of the early 2020s that’s spawned artists like Machine Gun Kelly, blackbear, and numerous other scene favourites energetically straddling the genre lines. MOD SUN’s blend of emotive rap, moody guitar lines and soaring hooks is explosive, and Lavigne’s vocals are the silvery injection of the 2000s emo glory it needs to be an anthem.

The opening of the track is all melancholy piano, the odd acoustic strum, and Lavigne’s ethereal delivery of the very first chorus – but when MOD SUN’s verse kicks on, the track quite literally goes “up in flames”, with a beat, flickering guitar embers and simmering instrumentals. Not one build beats the immense first full-band chorus though; a vivdly vocal-layered, electro-beat-dense eruption of noise that’s gone as soon as it begins. Flames is more of a supernova than a slow-burner.

MOD SUN’s upcoming new record Internet Killed The Rockstar (aptly titled, a nod to the breakdown and buzz of rebuilding the scene in the internet age) is out February 12th. Flames, alongside the slew of singles released in 2020, have definitely ignited our expectations.

Internet Killed The Rockstar is out February 12th.