By: Jeanie Casison
“Nothing New Under the Sun,” the exciting new single from Millenium Resorts, shuffles along with the steady, tranquil pace of a modern lullaby. Dreamy, leisurely, and irresistibly gentle, one can easily fall under its magnetic spell of deeply relaxing vibes. There is a peacefulness around the whole affair, created by long-time collaborators Scott Raulie and Jonathon Richerson, who make up the innovative artistic duo from Austin, Texas. The end result is a brilliant juxtaposition of somber verse set against delicate vocals and breezy, upbeat instrumentation that draws elements from indie rock, alternative, synth-pop, chillwave, atmospheric EDM, shoegaze, and psychedelic.
Yet beneath the easygoing sounds lies a striking lyrical ambiguity encapsulated in the song name, “Nothing New Under the Sun.” “The title, I think, is significant,” shares Raulie. “It is a Hebrew idiom from Ecclesiastes in the Bible.”
Contrast is not lost in verses such as:
“Day to day she’s beaming
Love is so redeeming
No time for her dead soul
No time for any real truth…”
Lyrically, it’s like an interesting, layered puzzle, with lines such as “Listening and absorbing/Not a second goes by it’s alarming/Karl and Satan hitting overdrive/What in God’s name yellow number 5” open to listeners’ own interpretation. But one thing that is certainly evident is the song’s subtle sense of resignation and cynicism. “The spirit of the song is kind of what everybody goes through, essentially the day-to-day and just the grind. Been there. Done that,” says Raulie. “And it seems if you don’t have anything outside of the material, then the material world will always come up short, the material vs having a spiritual view and how it relates to existence.” However, despite the somber lyrics, Raulie reveals that “Nothing New Under the Sun” is actually a little bit lighter on the atmospheric side.
Originally, “Nothing New Under the Sun” was longer and featured on the cinematic concept album “In the Key of David,” released in early 2024. However, according to Raulie, out of all the tracks on the original album project, this song stood out on its own and features a swing beat, whereas all the other beats in the music are aggressive and heavy. “What is unique about this song is, yeah, there’s nothing new under the sun, so let’s just party. It’s got much more of a fun, light, and party sound to it with a guitar hook in the ballpark of Hendrix or Jack White,” Raulie says. “So, this track had a much different feel from our usual dark, gothy, cinematic, dreamy stuff.”
While the current release of “Nothing New Under the Sun,” is a shorter bite-sized radio edit at around three-and-a-half minutes, Millennium Resorts plans to release the original longer song, which runs around eight to nine minutes in its entirety at some point. The band is also busy behind the scenes working on new music, which they plan to release in the near future.
In the meantime, keep up with Millennium Resorts and their music by following them on Instagram and Spotify.
Published by: Martin De Juan
