Track listing: Better Off Bitter, Reality, Good Time Girl, Upside Down, Of This World, Another Year, Another Round, Swift Fits, Wouldn't It Be Nice, Failure By Design, The Heretic

Spacey intro. Pop punk drum fill. Huge wall of sound. And an indifferent bitterness in the lead vocal singing the title track to Free Mace's latest album Better Off Bitter. The Jacksonville, Florida project blends all manner of influences into their richly produced 10-song release. It's got the candied synths of pop acts like Owl City set against drums fueled with a Travis Barker intensity. Guitar solos channel melodic metal, swapping styles between shredding and New Wave sing-songy melodies. 

So what the hell exactly is Free Mace doing with Better Off Bitter? The project's central force Mason Thomas Staub certainly channels a wealth of inspiration in his songwriting. "Upside Down" blasts a happy-go-lucky melody in the chorus while simultaneously shooting lyrical knives at the song's subject. "Another Year, Another Round" brings some aurally challenging chord progressions to light in its chorus, building on the spacey effects that kicked off the record. 

Stylistically, Better Off Bitter is a pretty significant departure from Free Mace's previous work. All of Media (2021), Hawaii Drive (2020), and World on Fire (2020) draw heavily from Reggae and Island Music vibes. And beyond the genre differences, their production is consistently more lo-fi and pretty straightforward garage-band-like. So with Better Off Bitter, Staub has taken significant leaps and bounds forward when it comes to production quality. 

It's hard to nail down exactly where Free Mace fits in, stylistically speaking. Thinking on Sirius XM stations, Better Off Bitter would fall on the heavier side of what you'll find on Alt Nation but isn't quite metal enough to land on Octane. Moments throughout the album might slip nicely into a playlist alongside "Kilby Girl" by The Backseat Lovers.

At the end of the day, Free Mace's Better Off Bitter is a standalone effort. A little bit hard, a little bit punk, a little bit atmospheric pop. There's something for most listeners to latch on to and enjoy. You can follow, like, subscribe and listen to Free Mace all over the place. Start your deep dive at freemacemusic.com.