I discovered The Money War when they supported Middle Kids in April 2019. I was drawn to this song from their 2020 album Morning People, it’s been in my Liked Songs playlist since 8 September 2020.
The Money War was formed in 2016 by husband and wife duo Dylan Ollivierre and Carmen Pepper. They’ve been busy in those 9 years, creating sunny indie pop albums and EPs. ‘Nothings Gonna Change’ is a song about reassurance and given when it was released, it makes a lot of sense.
The song starts with some beautiful and atmospheric electric piano before a strummed guitar and drums kick in. I like the groove of the drums in this track and they give another layer of movement to the piano.
When the dark, settles in
And you can’t find the light in anyone
And you cant find the light within
I won’t budge, won’t give in
I’ll be fixed like a stone in your grandma’s wall
I’ll be sure like the Indian winds
The first chorus brings in this beautiful arpeggiated synth and the drums drop out. Horns come in and start building up before the drums come back in to mark the second verse. The drums have a particular sound, with the kick being punchy and the high hats having a nice swish.
We can hear Carmen’s gorgeous backing vocals and I love the contrast between her and Dylan. They truly are blessed to have found each other and make amazing music together. There’s an electric guitar bringing some new vibes, which reappears through to the instrumental section. The vocals have an echo/reverb effect on them during the last phrase and it feels like things are slowing down. It’s just preparation for the splash of the cymbals that herald the second chorus. There’s a tiny gap beforehand, which gives it this momentum after the verse. Its this sense of push and pull in this song that makes it a joy to listen to. I can hear a shaker, possibly a cabasa or a sample in the same vein.
The instrumental brings the electric guitar to the forefront, leading into a shorter third verse. The first line of the third chorus has another gap when the drums drop out. I love these little moments and I can see that Perth musicians really love doing this kind of thing, if the 3 songs I’ve written about lately are anything to go by. The lyric points to the unfairness of the world, but encourages us to keep going:
There’s no justice for us in this world
But it don’t mean that we shouldn’t try
We’ve got another instrumental section with some ad lib vocals, before we’re heading towards the outro. Withe the reassurance that nothing’s gonna change, some strings and a different synth line weave in and then fade out into nothingness.
This song for me is almost bittersweet, possibly leading more towards the sweet end of the spectrum. As a lover of those kinds of songs, its exactly my kind of thing. Its just anothe example of how my beloved home town really does produce some great music.