There are some artists who drop an album, and it just feels like another artist trying to find a new angle on a genre, songs full of musical gizmos and sonic gimmicks. Change might be inevitable and essential in music, but it never works if it feels forced. And that is what makes Janita’s music, in general, and her latest album in particular, such a breath of fresh air. Mad Equation is the sound of indie-rock, for want of a better term, moving forward at a natural pace, but it also sounds, even on the first spin, as if you have been listening to it all your life. And if that isn’t the definition of a classic sound, I don’t know what is.
It opens with a brace of singles that totally prove my point: “Real Deal,” which runs on gentle waves of mellifluous sonics, an ebb and flow of groove while other sounds deftly dovetail in, and “I Want You I Warn You,” which feels like a 50s jazz song soaked in chiming indie guitars and anthemic rock energy. Already, you get a feel of the sophistication and sincerity behind Janita’s music.
But this is genuinely an album where any of the tracks could have seen the light of day ahead of its release; such is the standard if the writing here. “Not A Child” is an innovative blend of dark, understated pop and soul-rock weight, “Wild and Open Wide” runs on coiled, spiraling guitars and Janita’s emploring vocals, and “I’ve Come Around Here For You” is drifting and delicious.
Mad Equation is both love-lorn and lovely, pursuing affairs of the heart across all regions of the musical map, and as I said, even on first hearing, it feels like a long-forgotten favorite album. It has all the potential to be a future classic; all we have to do now is add time!
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