If first impressions are essential, and public consensus suggests that they are, then my first impression of this three-track EP from mUmbo is that of a quintessentially English, dreamfolk take on what made Mazzy Star so enchanting. But that is an easy label to throw around, not least because for every sonically familiar groove you notice, there are plenty more moves that are fresh and forward-thinking.
And if Mazzy Star were more inclined to head down paths of dense, dark alt-country, mUmbo would rather head towards the light, one that shimmers and shines as it pours through their lush soundscapes woven of guitars and strings, vocals and vibes.
“You Can Do What You Want” is spacious and sophisticated, a place where deft sonic motifs and understated guitar lines lilt luxuriously, delicate strands that seem to do little more than entrap natural atmospheres that lie around them in a gossamer web.
“You Know The Song” is graceful, not to mention gorgeous, but at the same time infectious and pop-aware, a sure-footed balancing act along the finest of lines, one that runs between the artful and the accessible, the cool and the contagious and the EP’s swansong, “Worm Moon,” slow-burns its way from folk finesse to chiming ambient-indie heights.
There is an art to understatement; it is not necessarily about doing less with your music, it is about doing the right sort of less. And here, that means leaving just enough space so that other sounds, the sonics which are naturally found between one note and the next or in the space left by the drawing of breath between one line and the next, can pool and percolate, creating their own additional atmosphere. This is music that simultaneously plays the less-is-more card and also more than the sum of its sonic parts.
How clever is that?
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