Dublin-based duo mischa and the bear announce their new single “Bleach”, out now as the first release from their upcoming second EP True Colours (due out 21st August 2026).
Bleach is a song that speaks for itself. The track exposes the “world revolves around me” attitude, an attitude where there’s a lack of empathy, and hedonism pushed to grotesque extremes. Bleach is a nauseated witness to a culture of hyper-capitalist hustle ideologies spread to online spaces that reward narcissism and spectacle.
Through tongue-in-cheek lyricism and its satirical attitude, the track dismantles a growing cultural mindset: a world where success is measured purely by wealth, status, and dominance, and empathy is treated as weakness.
The chorus captures this best - ‘money or death, success comes first’ - there are no nuances to life other than how much money you have and what your social status is.
Bleach explores when this ideology is taken too far. The duo step into the voice of this character to expose its absurdity - the public figure who thrives on power, the artist who separates persona from morality.
The production leans into discomfort: harsh, synthetic drums that feel deliberately “plastic”, clashing textures, and a fusion of real guitars with cold electronic elements. Nothing about it is supposed to be nice or easy on the ear, it’s supposed to express shared anger.
The accompanying music video, shot in stark black and white, amplifies this atmosphere. There is no grey area, no nuance, it’s just black and white - there are winners and there are losers.
Songwriter Mischa said:
“Bleach captures a mindset that feels increasingly unavoidable. I think we all know people like this and have been affected personally by selfish self-serving people, whether it’s an ignorant manager at work or the corrupt politicians and billionaire corporations at the top, orchestrating their master plans for optimal profit.
The track came together with unusual immediacy while I was on a bus going to work, feeling very angry. I could hear what the bassline was gonna be and I already knew the first verse, and how the toms and bass were going to interact already. It was just a matter of getting home and recording it.”
Bleach sets the tone for EP True Colours, a project that explores facade and doesn’t hold back.
With upcoming performances at renowned festivals Forbidden Fruit and Beyond The Pale, mischa and the bear are stepping out from behind the screen and into physical spaces for the first time.
Bleach is out now - https://ffm.to/bleach-mischa-and-the-bear
True Colours is out Friday 21st August.
About mischa and the bear
mischa and the bear are rapidly emerging as one of Ireland’s most exciting new acts. In 2026 alone, the duo secured a Silver Selection at the Berlin Music Video Awards and were named a ‘Rising Artist’ by RTÉ 2FM, as well as booking multiple festival slots around Ireland.
Producer Mischa and vocalist Bear formed together in early 2025 with a sound rooted in modern electronic pop, pairing glitchy, industrial-leaning textures with distorted synths and distinctive vocals.
Dark, driven and mechanical, their music combines ethereal textures with high-impact energy.
Operating entirely from their shared bedroom studio, the duo have built a self-contained creative world rooted in DIY culture, digital intimacy, and visual chaos.
Their work blends synth-pop, witch-house, and electropop into something both nostalgic and forward-facing, lending itself well to the resurgence of indie sleaze while carving out a distinct, darker identity of their own.
Bleach, landing May 22nd, is the first single off the duo’s upcoming second EP ‘True Colours’.
Younger lovers of the new hyperpop age, anyone nostalgic for the indie sleaze era and aficionados of the electronic witch-house brooders of the late 2000s and early 2010s: come one, come all, to mischa and the bear.
Hotpress Magazine
“I really love that Synthpop sound and they do it really well”
Gemma Bradley – BBC Introducing
“An act ready to carve their own path in the Alt-Pop landscape”
Void Magazine
“Industrial textures, distorted beats and a haunting intensity that lingers”
Babystep Magazine
“Harkening back to other synth-pop aficionados like Sylvan Esso, Grimes or Passion Pit. Come for the bops, stay for the rich, intelligent composition & sound.“
Chordblossom
For more information on mischa and the bear:
linktree.com/mischaandthebear
mischaandthebear.com
instagram.com/mischaandthebear
tiktok.com/@mischa.and.the.bear
https://mischaandthebear.bandcamp.com/