A Pop Punk Cathedral of Hooks, Heartache and High-Wire Emotion –

In Dave Mills’ latest release, Jump, featuring Kylaa, he channelled a pop-punk surge shaped by evocatively visceral 00s melodic-rock intensity. From the intro, the alt-rock aesthetic hits with that familiar rush, which feels like a shot to the ribcage. The choruses burst with the adrenaline of a crossroads moment, giving breath to the emotional friction beneath any catalyst that forces you to step away from stagnation or patterns you’ve outgrown.

Mills leans into the fearlessness that switches between bravery and reckless self-preservation, letting the bitter-sweet tang of those turning-point moments colour the whole arrangement. The rawness in his voice, especially when the hooks flare bright, makes the track feel like a collective exhale for anyone gnawing their way through life’s rougher edges.

Kylaa’s contribution sharpens the dynamic, giving the anthem a richer emotional contour through her harmonies of empathy. Rather than slipping into nostalgia-for-nostalgia ’s-sake, Mills uses the architecture of those chart-topping anthems every millennial outlier once clung to as scaffolding for something that reaches far higher. He builds a cathedral of hooks, heartache and hard-won resolve, polished with the kind of melodic uplift that cuts deep.

The emotional candour in his performance never hides; he pours every scrap of lived experience into the delivery until the track feels like a rallying cry wrapped in catharsis. As his vocals climb and the guitars swell, there’s a sense that he’s not only wrestling with his own internal reckonings but offering a hand to anyone trying to prise themselves free from whatever’s dragging at their ankles.

Jump is now available on all major streaming platforms, including SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast