By: Staff
Monrad delivers a standout performance with “Caught Up” featuring captivating melodies and a gritty vocal style.
We had a chance to check out Monrad’s “Caught Up,” and it’s an instant dance classic, with a message. The melody and the supporting musical arrangement hook you from the very start, that will get feet on dance floors moving. There’s no shortage of synth layers and production work in this song, creating an overwhelming, energetic soundscape. What truly stood out for us, though, was the live bass. It added a richness that elevated the entire track, giving it a James Bond-style effect that was hard to miss.
When Monrad enters the scene with his throaty, leathery, raspy, baritone voice, you can’t help but be impressed. His delivery is utterly unique, flowing between whispery spoken word and smooth singing, perfectly matching the intricate musical arrangement. It’s an approach that only amplifies the song’s theme,letting go of the stress that comes from being “caught up” in the daily grind of life. His voice drives the point home effortlessly, embodying that desire to just give in, move on, and embrace whatever comes next.
The crystal-clear recording and excellent engineering truly elevate “Caught Up” to the next level. Each instrument is perfectly balanced, allowing the synths and live bass to shine while still giving space for Monrad's unique vocal performance. This is a radio-ready production, polished to perfection, and engineered with tremendous skill. The track doesn’t just hit emotionally; it hits technically too, with a professional sound that could easily compete on airwaves.
The carefree message of the song couldn't be clearer: sometimes, we just need to let life unfold naturally and be "down for whatever." Monrad masterfully communicates that urge to escape, weaving it into both his lyrics and musical style. This isn’t just a song—it’s an anthem for those moments when life’s chaos feels overwhelming, and all you want to do is let go.
You can find this release on any major platform. See below for links to take you straight to some of the profiles. Make sure to playlist, stream, and share “Caught Up” by Monrad.
Published Quote:"Monrad moves between singing and talking, succeeding in giving the song importance and solemnity, while his seductive voice and guitars take us into a harmonic and atmospheric world: have a good trip! Recommended" (We Are YMX - music blog).
Wait… there's more!
We had the chance to catch up with Monrad for an exclusive interview in "The Cage" Music Blog.
Here’s how it went:
Begin Interview
How has your musical journey evolved from your days with Rencontrez l’amour to your solo work as Monrad?
Rencontrez l’amour was a great journey. The way we made new songs was mostly based on jamming around a riff that one of the guitar players or the bass player brought with him during rehearsal. The songs were created organically, while we were playing. With Monrad I do everything myself, building up layer by layer, which makes the production process very different. I need to also have a basic understanding of most of the instruments to understand how they would or wouldn’t fit on the other layers. I find it a very interesting way of working, also connecting to many different instruments and sounds.
What are the main challenges you face as a solo artist, and how do the benefits of working independently compare?
The challenges are there of course. I am a guitar player in the first place. That makes it more challenging to understand the potential of the other instruments, which of course I don’t master all equally well. You can really hear the push from both Simon Casier (bass player of Balthazar, Zimmerman) and Michiel Balcaen (drummer of Balthazar and Warhaus) when they came to record the bass and drum parts. Both are masters of their instruments and they could so easily play with my bass and drum parts. Very impressive! The advantage of being alone is that I have everything ready in my small home studio. Meaning, when I have an idea, I don’t have to wait till the next rehearsal to bring it forward. I can start working on it straight away.
What emotion drives the creation of "Caught Up," and how does that emotion influence the overall tone of the song?
Life can be monotonous. The daily grind is not always easy to digest and at a certain point it becomes too much. You want to escape, leave all your responsibilities behind, even for only 1 night. It is that happiness you feel when you let it go for a bit, when you don’t have to worry about things, when you feel anything is possible. You can hear that in the light synths, reverby guitars and the drive of the song. On the other hand, the vocal parts stay quite monotonous to contrast with the above, knowing that the grind will come back the next day.
Can you walk us through your songwriting process, i.e., where you like to be when you write, and where the inspiration for "Caught Up" came from?
Most of the songs start from feelings I experience myself. I generally think a lot, perhaps even overthink things, and many of those reflections are about our daily life. Those reflections can happen anywhere, at work, in the car, on the street. If those are strong enough, they will stay with me for a while, sometimes connected to feelings. When those feelings become overwhelming, I need to find an outlet. Songwriting is one of those and a great way of connecting those feelings with an audience. Those feelings are then captured by a guitar or synth riff or a beat, whatever works, and from that point, I start building up the song, layer by layer. Let’s say that a song comes from deep within me in some way. I always hope that listeners will get the message and say, yes, I exactly understand how he feels, I feel the same way.
Can you describe to us the theme of your artwork for "Caught Up" and what inspiration or message you wanted to convey to the observer?
For the artwork, I wanted to show a person who just comes back from his work and tries to escape his working day. Totally exhausted, he just needs to escape, and any place is good for that, even if it is totally kitsch.
Where do you start the production of your music, and did you collaborate with any producers or other artists on "Caught Up”?
All the demo work is happening in my home studio. Those demos I sent to a good friend and great producer, Filip Tanghe, who has a listen and gives me some advice when needed. To have that sounding board is crucial for me, as it gives me an anchoring point. It could be that at that point I still change the structure of the song, but will not play too much anymore with the layers and different sounds. When I go to record in North Garden Studio (Kortrijk, Belgium), and as I tend to fill the song with sound layers, some of the layers might still disappear, just to open the songs up. For this EP, Simon Casier and Michiel Balcaen laid down the drum and bass of the songs; a great experience working with such professional musicians.
What part of the music-making process is the most stressful, i.e., the creation, the actual release date, etc.?
The creation is not stressful for me as it is in some way a release from something that has been playing in my head for a while. What can be stressful is that I have a full-time job and when I am working on a song, it is constantly in my head, with new ideas coming at any time of the day. When I am working, it is not possible to go to my home studio and quickly try it, which makes it sometimes stressful. The thing I don’t like too much is all the social media that needs to happen when a release comes out. I don’t feel I am that good at it and it stresses me in some way.
If there was one thing you could change about the music industry, what would it be?
Look, I know the music industry more from the sideline, my own experience only touches on its outskirts. I have the feeling it has become very difficult for non-mainstream artists to get picked up. All these algorithms favour popular music, which is then where listeners get exposed to and will listen to. It is a vicious circle. Discovering music from independent, alternative artists needs a lot of effort. In addition, when you don’t really fit into one specific genre, it seems to be very difficult for promoters, streaming sites, and music magazines to place you somewhere. It seems to be not-done in some way to make a crossover from different music genres as it will be too difficult to market. Anyway, if you really search, there is incredibly good music around. You need to take your time.
Was there ever a time when you emotionally felt, “I can’t do this anymore”? How did you find the strength to continue?
It is not easy indeed. Not sure if everyone appreciates how much time goes into making music. Many, many hours. And if that is not your primary occupation, it needs a lot of energy, drive, and love for the process to keep going. On top of that, I feel very exposed when I release music. It feels like I am dropped naked in the middle of a busy city center and everybody is looking at me. But music making is something I really love to do; it is also such a beautiful thing to hear your finished music. That keeps me going.
How did experimenting with synths and layers influence the creative direction of your latest EP, including "Caught Up”?
It is a continuous learning process, stepping away from my main instrument, guitar, and searching for other sounds. The more you do it, the more a completely new world, with unlimited possibilities opens up, and that is quite incredible. I have always been listening to a broad range of music, going from rock, desert rock, alternative, over funk, jazz, blues to pop and indie. When you experiment with all these instruments, you feel like all these genres in some way come together. That is definitely the direction I want to continue going.
What role does the rural Italian village setting play in your music-making process for "Caught Up" and other recent projects?
It gives me peace and tranquility from the hustle of city life. Here I have space to have all my instruments around and experiment. When my head is full, or I feel overwhelmed, the nature around me gets me grounded. When I have first versions of my music, I always go walking and listen to them, probably 20 times. It is a good way to find things I want to still change. It is also very important for the formulation of my lyrics. I get a lot of inspiration around here to use more metaphors.
If you could go on any late-night talk show, which would it be? And based on present life, what would be the topic of discussion?
Hmm, probably The Daily Show. I love the way they pick up things from the media, news, and are critical about them but in a very funny way. I probably would like to discuss the topic on why things are the way they are in society. Why are we living this specific life in Western society? How did we come to this? All interesting questions in my opinion.
End Interview
We’re happy to have shared Monrad’s exciting journey with you and uncovered such inspiring insights about their creative process.
Now, click the links below to experience their incredible work firsthand!
Check out this latest release and listen to more of Monrad on Spotify & YouTube.
Comments