The Mind Room is the kind of record that seems to materialize rather than begin. Across four tracks, Planeswalkers — Arden Leigh and Andrew Means — build a murky electronic world where beats emerge from shadows, synths hover at the edges of perception, and Leigh’s ethereal voice provides the most recognizable human presence. The EP occupies a space somewhere between witch house, ambient electronica and industrial music, though none of those labels quite contain it. Means keeps the production spacious and patient, favoring atmosphere over obvious hooks, while Leigh moves through the arrangements with a voice that can sound intimate one moment and ghostly the next. There’s a deliberate sense of tension throughout, as though each track is withholding something.
“Horizons” establishes that mood immediately, unfolding with cinematic restraint before “Clockwork” introduces a more mechanical pulse. “Body” feels particularly suited to Leigh’s dramatic delivery, while the closing “Alive” provides a subtle sense of release without completely dispelling the darkness.The EP’s conceptual foundation is heavy, dealing with trauma, healing and the idea of reaching someone who cannot—or will not—confront painful memories directly. That subject matter could easily push the music toward melodrama, but Planeswalkers wisely leaves much of the interpretation to the listener. The lyrics function less as exposition than as another layer of atmosphere.
What makes The Mind Room compelling is its commitment to mood. This isn’t background electronic music, nor is it conventionally song-driven. It asks for attention and rewards it with a world that feels eerie, intimate and deliberately unresolved. Planeswalkers may be a new project, but The Mind Room sounds like the beginning of something already fully formed.
