Jango Flash’s “My Mercedes” Is The Kamikaze-Pop Banger Your Soul Needs

And it’s not about the car

By Pres Dean

At a glance, you would expect a song titled “My Mercedes” to be a fancy hip-hop piece about how you started from the bottom and now collect Mercedes as a hobby. Or a pop song about the same exact thing. But actually Jango Flash’s “My Mercedes” is a completely different song. The latest offering from the Newcastle quintet is an explosive ‘kamikaze-pop’ (their self-described genre) that is inspired by frontman Jack Angus Golightly’s mom, who is a badass btw, and even addresses hefty issues such as domestic violence. 

Discussing the context behind the track, frontman Golightly explained: “‘My Mercedes’ was written as a dialogue between two best friends at bad places in their lives. My mum was a single mother travelling the world with my brother and working three jobs. Along the road she ended up in an oppressive relationship prior to meeting my dad, yet fortunately found the strength to kick back, protect my brother and get herself out of it. It was my mum’s friend that gave her the nickname ‘Mercedes’ because she found elegance and strength in the way she carried herself through life. Whenever she writes to my mum she always starts with, ‘Dear my Mercedes.’ So I opened the song like a letter, and finished the rest in a night.

This pandemic has ramped up the tension in people’s lives to breaking point. Domestic abuse figures skyrocketed, and I ended up hearing horror stories from friends of mine. This is close to home and something that I wanted to discuss, because no one should have to live with abuse and should always have support to find strength and speak out.” 

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