MISSIO – 'Can You Feel the Sun' (album review + Q&A)

Artists that reach a certain level of stardom need the perfect ingredients to reach the masses and impact so many through their music. Often times as music reviewers or even fans, it’s so hard to describe what those perfect ingredients are. We can call it the “IT” factor, or pure talent. To be honest, there is plenty of “Pop” music out there that just has a great beat yet no substance. It seems we will always have truly talented and under rated bands out there. Currently MISSIO sits in the truly “under rated” category.

To have true substance in lyrics and extremely unforgettable melodies, that is where magic truly happens. The other factor in success is either luck or super fans that push the artist(s) forward into the mainstream.

If you are not familiar with MISSIO, now is a great time to get to know them. The Austin based duo have released their third album today, Can You Feel The Sun. It’s honestly their personal best and they seriously could reach a Twenty One Pilots level if the right people pay attention as their sound is genre bending and progressive.

The lead track “Can You Feel The Sun” is an awesome single for the duo that encapsulates the reality of isolation and struggles in life, yet offers hope with their simple yet profound lyrics “Can You Feel The Sun? I do but I can’t see it. Can’t you feel the breeze? I don’t but I believe it” The melody is cinematic and sweeping. It’s one of the standouts on the album. It would almost make sense that this track was written during quarantine, but the album was entirely written in the fall of 2019 – it’s eerie yet cool how timely and relevant many of these songs are and perfect for our current world in 2020.

“Don’t Forget To Open Your Eyes” is another single that feels like it was written during quarantine. It reminds us to just get up and get out of bed and witness the sunrise. This lyric is so introspective “The world is a really dark place, but I love it”. It’s the juxtaposition/reality that yes there are crappy things in this world, but also beauty in nature. We can get wrapped up in the negative instead of seeing the good in the world. This is the best departure/growth for the duo’s sound as the vibes are so chill with jazzy/r&b undertones.

“Vagabond” is the most hyped single on the album and totally caters to the fans who need those hard hitting club beats. This collab with Esoteric from CZARFACE provides an additional rap element to the track which elevates their sound even more. The lyrics once again speak to struggles in relationships. “Hurting people hurt people, it’s hard to understand”.

“Crybaby” is a track that speaks to a break in a relationship, but also includes awesome lyrics. Paul Wall helps on this track and it’s beat heavy and dance ready. The intro lyrics could be some of our own thoughts right about now: “We are human, we are strong. Willing flowers blooming along. Hate is hate and love is love, I don’t know why we can’t rise above”

“Losing My Mind” soars and speaks to the doubt and insecurities that can creep in while “We All Burn To The Ground” touches on the fact that love is all that matters regardless of religious ideas. “Guilt’s a useless thing that destroys you, What do you Know?”

“Roman Empire” is a screw you to certain systems and laws, especially since the Roman Empire was all about suppressing and taxing the people. It has a cool new wave vibe that easily makes it dance ready. “Hoodie Up” includes those industrial beats that makes Missio’s sound unique and progressive. The lyrics speak to being who you really are without others getting in the way. “Wolves” is actually about different laws in different places. As you can ascertain by the lyrics, marijuana is legal in Amsterdam and of course in New Orleans it is not. The band shares a bit more about this track on their Instagram. It’s another beat heavy banger that will get your blood pumping.

The closer is “Daydreaming” which brings the album full circle. It’s a quick glimpse into a future of the old world imploding and creating something new. The overall melody and feeling is happy and upbeat all the while ending with the parting lyric that might sum up the entire album perfectly: “All I can do when my head’s in the clouds is be here in the moment”

The album has the perfect theme – the world is a crazy place where good, bad and ugly happens but we all have a choice of how we view our world. We can live in the moment or allow anxiety and fear to win. It’s OK not to be OK, just be open to learning and looking at life in different ways. MISSIO have a crazy knack for expressing true emotions and feelings of the human condition in such a relatable way, but they also offer hope and spread a message of unity with their deeply introspective and thought provoking lyrics. In the way that the world currently is, we definitely need this type of message now more than ever. In past albums they have scratched the surface with a few different tracks, but Can You Feel The Sun is truly cohesive and pushes the listener to look inward and truly start asking questions.

The cool thing about MISSIO is that each of their songs mean something, they are written and recorded for a reason. It makes sense that the actual meaning of their name is “Mission” in another language. The duo of Matthew Brue and David Butler are not only talented and real, but they actually do care about their fans (so much so they’ve created a live chat on their website for their mafia.)

Hopefully with having some of the best fans, this album will be shared and pushed further into the mainstream. Maybe it’s time for MISSIO’s mission to be heard by the masses. They definitely deserve it.

Can You Feel The Sun is out everywhere today. You can purchase merch and vinyl options here.

For all the MISSIO Mafia out there and those just discovering them, we hope you enjoy this Q&A and get ready to hit repeat on their entire album. All questions were answered by Matthew.

How was it working with Czarface and Paul Wall for the newest album? Did you all have to collaborate during lockdown?

Working w/ hip-hop artists at times can be a challenge for a variety of reasons. That being said, both Paul Wall & Esoteric from CZARFACE were incredibly timely on their delivery, they added such unique ideas to the original tracks we sent them, & they both have an extraordinary work ethic. They’re legends in their own way & it was pretty surreal to hear the authenticity from their lyrics and what they wanted to portray. We still have yet to meet either of them in person due to COVID, but one day we’ll have them both out to a show and we’ll perform together and that shit is going to be HYPE!

Really loving the F*ck It Thursday videos and being vulnerable for your fans. As for launching the fan chat, was the motivation behind it regarding how everything has changed with COVID?

This is honestly a great question. I get really frustrated when i’m on social media and all I see are promotions, marketing, & “influencers” (whatever the literal f**k that means) trying to get me to buy something or to click on their over edited & half naked pictures. It leaves me feeling useless, gross, & tends to have me comparing my life to theirs. In so many ways it leaves me depressed and anxious. Everything we do to stay authentic is to fight that force of narcissism that has taken over our world today & we genuinely want our fans specifically who tend to struggle that they are seen as beautiful despite their addictions, circumstances, & mental health.

Did the situation with COVID actually speed up the process of the newest album because you were restricted from touring?

We actually recorded this record in November of last year without fully knowing what chaos awaited us in 2020. As the year began to unfold we started to notice that some of our lyrics written on this record months before were speaking to the current world in an eerie way. It makes me believe in a mysterious ‘collective intuition’ of sorts as human beings and that we might be more connected to each other then we all think or comprehend…

With Missio’s message being unity and togetherness, do you have any advice to your fans who might be struggling with things the way they are now? In a lot of ways, we’ve had to deal with forced isolation.

The saying can be a little cliche, especially within recovery circles but I honestly believe it. “It’s okay to not be okay.” It’s okay to wake up some days pissed off at the world. It’s okay to wake up and be depressed or overly anxious. It’s okay to feel sadness some days. It’s f**king OKAY!. My personal “go to” method of thinking tends to revolve around rushing to move past hard feelings so I can feel better instantly, but that’s just not reality sometimes. Our body is beautifully wired to handle things and that often means being uncomfortable to learn the greater lesson. Be gentle on yourselves and some days that may mean the only thing you can do is open your blinds. Well, if that’s all you can do then i’m proud of you for getting out of bed and pulling that cord so you can feel the sun – even if that’s only for a brief moment before climbing back into your bed.

As musicians currently not being able to tour or get in front of fans- what is the best way we can support you guys outside of buying the new album when it’s released? I’ve heard pre-saving albums/tracks is a pro for the artists. Merch as well?

You’re sweet and this is so incredibly kind! Supporting artists can be done by simply sharing the music with your friends/family if you dig it. The more fans that can hear our music the better, so if people hate pre-saving and doing all that… share a link w/ 2 friends and have them do the same. That helps more than anything. Buying vinyl helps a lot because that’s money that artists get to see themselves. Lastly, as weird as these are – supporting artists live streams this year help immensely! For one, it helps us feel connected to y’all again but it also helps us financially so that we can hopefully fund any/all endeavors next year.

Do you see yourself doing any live streams or that type of setup/concert for fans until being in person is safer?

Keep your eyes and ears open. That’s all we have to say about that. : )

[Click here to purchase tickets to their upcoming live streams.]

On “Vagabond”, I love the lyric “Hurting people hurt people” which is so true. I remind myself that broken people have sharp edges due to their own pain. Do you have any encouragement for others to move ahead in life even though they’ve been hurt by others in their past?

Bitterness kills joy. It always will & the two will always be in constant opposition to each other. We are all hurting people that hurt people continually and there is no out from that. We each have an ability to kill off our bitterness within and actively move towards love on a daily basis. It’s hard as hell to do, but I’ll always try to choose joy over bitterness any damn day of the week.

Ok I have to ask about the willow tree as it’s referenced in a couple of tracks 🙂

The willow tree is the first visual I saw when beginning to think about this record. We had just come home from a first time touring the world & we both were left so inspired. I have always found a symbolic safety in the way that a willow tree’s branches protect and hover over anything trying to find shelter below it & it represents a safe place when we’re feeling judged, embarrassed, or even misunderstood. Nature’s innocence & serenity can be healing in so many ways and one of our goals with this record is to get people back in touch w/ what it provides the human body, mind, & soul.

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter