Tiger Really – ‘Mayfly Daydream’ album review: thrilling emo ethnography
While emo-jazz band Tiger Really’s debut album, Swan Sting, made a meal of escapism, Mayfly Daydream sees the band tackle avoidance and, ultimately, take one sure-footed step into the real world.
The Skinny: Fronted by songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Lian Shao, the band has become a staple of the Vancouver alternative underground scene thanks to explosive live shows and intensely emotional, exhibitionistic lyrics, typical of the emo genre. However, while self-flagellated confessions often bog down their emo counterparts, on Mayfly Daydream, Tiger Really have found a way to cut through the crisis and into the light of the real world.
When writing intensely melancholic, emotional music, many musicians forget to acknowledge the levity inherent to the nature of confession; after all, getting something off your chest expunges the murky weight of anxiety, loneliness, and isolation.
In that gap, Tiger Really expand their sonic palette through the use of community; Samuel Uribe Botero of Racing Mount Pleasant, Carson Bassett from daysormay, idialedyournumber, and Jia all feature on the project. On ‘Blame’, for example, idialedyournumber teases out the truth on a free-wheeling, fast-paced, undeniable head-thwacker. The result is a record as inclusive and intimate as their live shows, one that pushes past the navel-gazing allegations of the genre into an attainable, community-focused future.
Shao’s lyrical capabilities have never been contested: Swan Sting’s ‘Fundamentally Unlovable’ contains a shout-sing bridge so viscerally personal it comes with ink hot from the journal-spill, and ‘Mayflies’ continues, in a calmer state of mind, excavating the ghosts of such painful longings: “Do you think that I’m meant to be alone?” Shao sings over a simple acoustic guitar. Through reference to us, the listener, the real-world, his navel-gazing drives upwards.
However, beyond the lyrical attestations, which take inspiration from “various cryptids and supernatural myths of American folklore and horror stories,” the album’s real standout is the intricate melodic guitar lines. Take ‘I Want To Run Away’, which contains a guitar line flirting and twisting artfully around the breathy vocals. Having formerly referenced Chet Baker, Car Seat Headrest, and Black Country, New Road as key influences, the band’s eclectic influences all but razzle-dazzle the American Football melody and, somehow, undercut each track with a guitar line better than the last.
The Verdict: Across eight varied tracks, Tiger Really proves that two years can make all the difference. Emo’s usual escapism and avoidance are swapped out, ultimately, for emotional authenticity and the catharsis of confession. Beyond the murky melancholy of malaise, this album matures into the real world.
Standout track: ‘Blame’.
Release Date: February 27th, 2026 | Producer: Nicholas Charuk and Lian Shao | Label: Counter Intuitive Records
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