Earthside Feat. Lajon Witherspoon and the MSSO, ‘Mob Mentality’ – Exclusive Song Premiere

And now for something completely different. Fans are used to hearing Lajon Witherspoon belt over the heavy sounds of Sevendust, and while the band did recently support an acoustic album, there's quite a bit more instrumentation going on with his latest vocal appearance. That's because he's teamed up with Earthside and the Moscow Studio Symphony Orchestra on a track called "Mob Mentality."

This epic piece of music is the second single to be released from Earthside's upcoming debut disc, A Dream in Static. The song has a unique history as it began as a senior thesis piece for guitarist Jamie van Dyck while studying music at Yale. The guitarist also composed the full orchestral arrangement that the Moscow Studio Symphony Orchestra plays on the track.

Van Dyck tells Loudwire, "'Mob Mentality’ was a four-year undertaking that became an epic journey that took us all over the world. It connected us with all sorts of collaborators and new friends. The song began as my senior composition to complete the undergrad music major at Yale, and has since led my bandmates and me to record the Earthside tracks in Stockholm, the Moscow Studio Symphony Orchestra in Russia, and Lajon's vocals in Iowa with 3 Years Hollow vocalist Jose Urquiza at the helm engineering the vocals session and performing some of the backing vocals on the song."

He adds, "Working with LJ and composing for a full orchestra are each lifelong dreams that have been fulfilled, and I'm very grateful to the contributions from them, my bandmates, and so many others who allowed for such a stupidly ambitious vision to actually be realized.”

To learn more about the whole process, check out the behind-the-scenes feature video at the bottom of this post.

As for the new album, the band views A Dream in Static as the story of a purposeful sacrifice and existential yearning told across sweeping instrumental movements. Van Dyck adds, "Our music aims to evoke the full range of human emotions. Having those emotions and themes expressed more directly through the voices of some of our favorite singers and musicians was an unbelievable experience and something we cannot wait to share with everyone."

Look for Earthside's A Dream in Static coming later this year.

Check Out This Behind-the-Scenes Video on Earthside's "Mob Mentality"

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