The summer is ending, and somehow Mono Mochi have handed me exactly the soundtrack I needed for it. “Lessons In Love (I’ve Never Learned)” still has plenty of sunlight in its pockets, with a bright guitar motif that keeps circling back like it has absolutely no intention of letting me forget it. But there are darker shades underneath that warmth too, and that combination feels very familiar right now. The days are getting shorter, the beach towels are going back into the cupboard, and suddenly we have time to think about everything we probably could have done better.
I really like the goofy self-awareness running through this song. Looking back at failed romances, missed chances and awkward moments can easily become a miserable exercise in self-pity, but Mono Mochi give those memories enough humour to keep them human. That cheerful guitar figure is almost annoyingly persistent in the best possible way, like a thought you keep trying to shake off but secretly know you need to have. When the hook arrives, it gets you! It is catchy, but there is something slightly fragile underneath the catchiness.
For me, the whole track feels like getting off the beach and discovering that I still have sand everywhere. There is still some of that summer love clinging to me, some sunlight caught in the soul, but I also know I need to do things differently next time. We all spend a while replaying the past and thinking, “next time I’m doing it differently”. It can make us feel a little ridiculous, a little vulnerable, but perhaps that is part of growing up. “Lessons In Love (I’ve Never Learned)” holds that contradiction beautifully: the warmth remains, yet the song is already looking towards the next summer, when maybe I can be a better lover, a better person and, ideally, a better sun-catcher.
About Mono Mochi:
Mono Mochi come from Lucerne, Switzerland, and their approach to recording fits the feeling of this song remarkably well. They produce their music independently and record on an old 1980s tape machine, choosing warmth and imperfection over making everything clinically spotless. I can hear why that suits them. Their music sits between indie rock and dream pop, with the PR pointing towards The War On Drugs, Mac DeMarco and Men I Trust, but what matters to me here is how naturally that analogue warmth supports the emotional messiness of the song. After their 2024 debut, the band are moving into their second album with a stronger sense of what they want to say, and “Lessons In Love (I’ve Never Learned)” feels like a very good example of that growing confidence.
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