Mutual Shock – Punishment Enough

Gentle capitulation in "Punishment Enough"

With ‘Punishment Enough’, Mutual Shock deliv­er a synth pop/synthwave track that imme­di­ately sur­prised me with its gently smooth sound­scape. I usu­ally look for edgy sounds and con­cise beats in songs, but here I feel so com­fort­ably embed­ded that I just let myself drift along. The har­mon­ies are soft, almost like a softened sound­scape that offers no res­ist­ance – and that's exactly what makes it so appeal­ing, because it suits my mood unusu­ally well.

The lyr­ics also fas­cin­ate me: this image of devo­tion, inner res­ist­ance and the struggle with a crit­ic­al part of one­self is per­fectly reflec­ted in the music­al restraint. For me, the song com­bines emo­tion and gen­tle­ness in a mix­ture that I would oth­er­wise have over­looked, but this time I can­not ignore.

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Lyrics of "Mutual Shock – Punishment Enough"

This time
I sur­render to you
Give myself in full

Undermined
Black and blue
But I still feel the pull

My tired mind can't for­mu­late an exit
I'm static
I've resigned myself to the abuse

Punishment enough

Toe the line
Know your place
Keep your head down and work

Is it a crime
To want some respite
When it's just you and me?

Picked apart and hol­lowed out from inside
A raw nerve
Numbness is a refuge from the pain

Punishment enough