Fishing in the pool of British bands that are yet to break through, we already hooked up with Mandy, Indiana last year: a quartet from Manchester that draws inspiration from just about every musical corner of the spectrum. This resulted in a sound that we had not often – in fact never – heard before, so that we immediately crowned the group as ‘Big Bear of Tomorrow’ and thus predicted a bright future for them. Unfortunately, a major breakthrough took longer than expected, although that was entirely up to Mandy, Indiana herself. The British first wanted to tinker with a full-fledged debut. And to be honest, there are far worse songs than “Alien 3to listen to while waiting for that record.
And look, waiting is always rewarded in the end, because with i’ve seen a way finally there is that long-awaited debut album from Mandy, Indiana. A record where an instruction manual, let alone a review, is actually impossible. Not because it’s a bad record; on the contrary, because it is such a chaotic mess that at times makes no sense at all. But it is precisely that chaos that makes this long player such an impressive gem. From post-punk and techno to dance, touches of metal and boiler room: Mandy, Indiana has it all i’ve seen a way all.
It starts with opener “Love Theme (4K VHS)”. In short, no more than an introductory track, but if you really listen, you will discover between the hypnotic synth line that keeps going on and on. Distorted elements, chaotic electronics; it is, as it were, the calm before the storm. And it erupts not much later with “Drag [Crashed]”. A heavy boiler room beat is supplemented with London garage, funk and even jazz elements, but below that you also hear a sound that resembles your upstairs neighbor who is moving all his belongings. Add to that the enchanting French voice of front woman Valentine Caulfield (who is reminiscent of The Ting Tings by the way) and you can hardly help but be impressed. You just have to experience it to understand.
Not much later, all this flows together in a kind of cohesion between post-punk and industrial in “Pinking Shears”, and then degenerates into the auditory panic attack that is “Injury Detail”. Ominous organs, a reverberating beat and tearing guitar shreds form the bed on which Caulfield uses her glitchy announcer’s voice. Even though Mandy, Indiana has already shown you every corner of the room by track four and crammed some thirty-seven different genres through your ear canals, you always feel like there’s one binding factor in the whole thing that always brings you back to this one. brings four. We can’t tell you what that is exactly. But as said: you just have to experience it to understand it.
After a chaotic interlude carried by drums, a literal storm erupts. “The Driving Rain (18)” hangs together with a sample of pouring rain, over which a kind of alternative dance track is poured. The following “2 Stripe” builds on that somewhat, although it is noticeable that the foursome carefully tries to slow down a bit. Dreamy soundscapes that evolve towards more electronic places, Caulfield who makes it all a bit sultry in a parlando way; it’s a side of Mandy, Indiana that we haven’t gotten to hear very often.
But as you may have guessed, this foursome is extremely unpredictable, and so “Iron Maiden” didn’t become a hard metal track, but a short two minutes of a sharp guitar that whizzes through your ear canals rehearsally, while someone in the distance howls hysterically over it . Call it crazy, call it genius; we call it Mandy, Indiana. That such a strange song is then followed by a boiler room beat from “Peach Fuzz” that blossoms into a song titled “(ノ>ω<)ノ :。・:*:・゚'★,。・:* :♪・゚'☆ (crystal aura redux)”, you won't find anywhere else.
So just to show that Mandy, Indiana’s debut really doesn’t make sense at all, which makes it just as impressive. And so you see that a long wait is always rewarded, because if this foursome does not have a golden future thanks to this record, then we don’t know what will. The descriptions might put you off a bit, but if you’re really open to what these gents and lady from Manchester have to offer, you’re in for an extremely intense half hour. i’ve seen a way sounds a bit like an aha experience within tons of chaos, and that might be the best way to describe this long player. So one to keep an eye on. Now and in the year-end lists.
Discover “Drag [Crashed]”, our favorite song from i‘ve seen a way, in our Image from the Plate playlist op Spotify.
2023-05-18 22:31:41
#Mandy #Indiana #ive #mess
