MX Lonely – All Monsters

Regular readers will know I’m a big fan of the Julias War Recordings label. I was buzzing when their latest release hit my inbox. From Brooklyn, New York comes MX LONELY a band whose music really landed with me on first listen. They’ve been playing together since 2020 but only been MX LONELY since 2022. The lineup is synthesist and vocalist Rae Haas, guitarist Jake Harms and bassist Gabriel Garman with Andrew Rapp on drums. After releasing a couple of cracking EPs, they are ready to release their debut album All Monsters to the world.

That title allows the band to talk about all the monsters they perceive from the very real monsters running the world to themes of addiction, gender, shame and self-sabotage. For the recording process the band aimed to capture the energy of their live show and so opted for an analogue approach. That immediacy and urgency is evident in these recordings but not at the cost of losing the big sound they were after. This has led to the band building their own studio space which they hope to open up to like-minded souls. Harms said this on the topic.

Let’s drop the needle and jump into their world.

‘Kill The Candle’ opens the record in a state of agitation with a squall of feedback. The guitars loom large and physical, while Haas delivers lines about evaporating under scrutiny and wanting to go underground. The lyric “a tree with its roots upside down” sets the emotional temperature straight away. This is a character at odds with the world, unable to settle, suspicious of light. The chorus lands with force and as an opener it frames the album as a record that’s wrestling its demons out loud.

‘Big Hips’ shifts the lens inward and sharpens it. Musically it leans into a churning, almost seasick rhythm that nods to angular 90s guitar music. Lyrically it tackles gender dysphoria with a mix of humour and bite. “Got big hips for a boy” becomes a hook that refuses to soften itself. The song reclaims adolescent discomfort and reframes it with defiance. It is playful on the surface yet carries a deep ache underneath. You can feel Haas reclaiming language that once felt weaponised.

Expanding the emotional scope next is ‘Shape Of An Angel’. The arrangement builds patiently, wrapping dreamy textures around a story of dependency and craving. The repeated confession “I’m in love with Adderall and validation” lands with uncomfortable clarity. This is a song about chasing euphoria and mistaking intensity for intimacy. The chorus rises in a way that feels both romantic and corrosive. It captures the way codependent relationships blur the line between salvation and self-destruction.

Next, we reach the heart of things. ‘All Monsters Go To Heaven’ sits at the conceptual centre of the album. The riff moves with a heavy patience before opening into a huge chorus that repeats the title like a mantra. The idea that forgiveness might arrive without judgement is presented as both comfort and threat. “All the bad shit you did here was fine” rings out with a strange calm. It asks you to sit with the idea that everyone carries harm inside them. The band really build that tension, pushing the song into a cathartic final section that goes stratospheric.

‘Blue Ridge Mtns’ pulls the record into a more personal register. Built from an old folk song Harms wrote in high school, it carries a fragile melodic core that contrasts with the weight surrounding it. The lyrics place us in the back seat on the way to rehab, “bleed memory til its love can replace you” cutting deep. The bridge, with its family kitchen refrain about not getting to heaven, ties private history to shared myth. It feels intimate and unguarded, and the band handle it with the gentle care it richly deserves.

Getting the energy levels back up next is ‘Anesthetic’. The drums punch hard and the guitars bite with a grunge inflection. Haas sings “my head is radio static” with a mix of exhaustion and hunger. The song describes the desire to feel everything rather than numb out. Framing it as a love song to the addict gives it a sharp edge. It recognises the allure of intensity while acknowledging its cost. Live, this one will hit like a release valve.

‘Return To Sender’ locks into a tight, insistent groove. The chorus repeats the title until it becomes a form of self-protection. Writing from the imagined perspective of someone indifferent, Haas turns that indifference into fuel. The line “as long as your side of the street is clean” lingers in the subtext. The band sound focused and controlled here, channelling frustration into something equally direct and anthemic.

‘Whispers In The Fog’ closes the album with patience. It stretches out into a slow burn that circles childhood fears and the addictive pull of anxiety. “My anxiety is a drug I can’t get rid of” feels like the thesis of the final act. The arrangement swells and recedes, giving the lyrics space to settle. By the time the final refrain fades, you feel as though the band have walked you through their darkest rooms and left the lights on.

By the time All Monsters reaches its closing moments, you realise MX LONELY have made a debut that refuses to hide behind noise alone. This is a record that stares directly at addiction, dysphoria, shame and the uneasy idea of forgiveness, then turns those themes into songs that feel huge and alive. The analogue approach gives everything a pulse you can almost touch, while the writing keeps things personal and specific. For a band rooted in community and recovery, there’s something powerful about how openly they lay this all out. All Monsters feels like a line in the sand moment for MX LONELY, a statement of intent that says these monsters are coming into the light and they’re bringing you with them.

All Monsters is out on February 20^th 2026 via Julia’s War Recordings. You can check it out over on the MX LONELY Bandcamp page.

You can follow MX LONELY on social media here…

• Instagram
• Bandcamp
• Link
• Tour Tix

Photo Credit

Luke Ivanovitch