Mint Condish's "Rat Utopia" is a peculiar song that drops you into an exhilarating world, one in which you can explore right off the rip. A fever dream of modern Western society, it reimagines what our contemporary culture would look like through the lens of the strange upbringing that occurred with John Calhoun's famous Rat Utopia experiment.
This is a new artist finding his way for the first time after years of supporting roles as a bass jockey. The shift lends "Rat Utopia" an undercurrent of openness, and the performance is strikingly assured. The tune is equal parts grimy and humorous, with added philosophical overtones that create a tale both entertaining and rowdy.
The track has an organic, DIY vibe, and the vocals capture a combination of rawness, guile, and honesty that's truly genuine. You feel this release as he celebrates the disbelief and emotional import of finally sharing his original work with the world. "Rat Utopia" is a critique and a turning point in the maturation of an artist who is still finding their voice. It is incisive, unconventional, and invigoratingly candid, the very type of track to make you wonder what they will come up with next.