Junior Mesa has unveiled his sophomore project with the release of his new EP Cirque du Freak, an elaborate collision of the artist’s love of the kind of Sgt. Peppers-era psychedelic textures with his own burgeoning struggle with his own existential strife. Created while Mesa was struggling with the aftermath of an epilepsy diagnosis and a relationship that was falling apart while living in Bakersfield, CA the second album is from the prolific and multi-talented artist is an extravaganza of psych-pop that explodes with the kind of bombast that he’s been known for.
Songs like the pulsating synth-dream “Pushing Away” and the buzzingly anxious but groovy “Paranoia Dreams” capture Mesa’s percieved lack of control over his life by manifesting them as a rotating cast of characters in his psyche as clowns and a sinister ringmaster. All of these wild shapes take form on “What’s Enough pt. 2” and the subsequent music video directed by Ryan Baxley, where Mesa appears in all his kaleidoscopically lush glory. Dressed to the nines in vibrant fits that contrast weridly with the video’s monochromatic backgrounds, Mesa stands vibing and crooning in that piercing wail on a song that hones in on his earnest desire to romance his love.
“I didn’t think I’d ever feel better, but once I did, I wanted to lash out against the world and do whatever I wanted to do,” Mesa said of the cathartic experience creating the EP. “I don’t think I was fully ready to look internally until I was forced to by my traumatic experiences.”
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Listen to Junior Mesa’s new EP Cirque du Freak below!
