Vilde - Grace

By Phillipe Roberts

Layers of electronic percussion hold back waves of gently warping guitar as Thomas Savage, aka Vilde, creeps into the pulsating neon carnival of an arcade. He tests all the classics. Leaning into the turns on MotoGP, losing a prize to the loose grip of a claw machine, and staggering in place with Dance Dance Revolution, he drifts in solitude between the cabinets. Patterns of flashing lights slip in and out of phase with the echoes of a cold and dreamy lead guitar line, deepening the trance so completely that you hardly notice when Savage, prickling with energy, steps back into the night. 

Directed by Elin Ghersinich with a little bit of inspiration from Lost In Translation, Savage’s hypnagogic video for “Grace” belies the tension that wore on him in creating the track. “I discovered the chord progression one day on a guitar, and played it repeatedly for about 40 minutes,” Savage explained, “Everything fell into place in my mind, the beat, the synths. I avoided beginning production on it, working on other songs instead, for fear I’d ruin it.”

But for all the anxiety of losing that initial spark, the inspired production choices and inclusion of submerged spoken word - a first take wonder for Savage in an attempt to preserve the track’s purity - add up to a truly disarming sonic daydream. Like all the best, it feels almost uncomfortably tangible while burning just out of reach.

The first single from an upcoming Summer 2020 LP, Savage’s fourth as Vilde in as many years, “Grace” is a nostalgia trip with teeth, biting back softly.

PREMIERE: MANKIND - Art P

Will Shenton

The opening notes of MANKIND's latest single, "Art Prostitute," set a tone that's at once apprehensive and nonchalant. The vocals kick in shortly, awash in exasperated bluntness, and we're treated to a narrative of white wigs, blue makeup, and what seems to be the masquerade of a tragically hip New Year's Eve party—all wrapped in some supremely punchy garage rock.

The latter track on the Swedish four-piece's new release is a fairly expansive cover of the Velvet Underground's "I'm Waiting For The Man." In addition to being nearly six minutes longer than the original, it embraces more of a deconstructive, psychedelic vibe, perhaps in a nod to the band's ridiculously long noise-jams when they played it live. It ends with an entropic, almost Wilco-esque fadeout, which works well to put a new twist on such a classic song.

Out January 1st on Lazy Octopus Records, Art P seems a fitting send-off to 2016. Both tracks convey a deep, cynical impatience, a desire to abandon all pretense and simply get the hell on with things. It's a sentiment echoed by many of us, and while I can't say this single has alleviated my fears about the immediate future, at least MANKIND has given us a hell of a soundtrack for the dawn of the new year.

REVIEW: MIYNT - Ep. no 1

Kelly Kirwan

MIYNT's croon is hushed, lingering over each and every word of her lyrics, her consonants burning lethargically together to comprise one elongated pronunciation. It's a slow-slinking, almost feline deliberateness which swarms our latest Stockholm import, who's absorbed the influences of her father's old '80s records (of the Swedish punk persuasion), and added a lackadaisical disco garnish. Her melodies shimmer in grey shades, as if we were watching a grainy black-and-white movie, whose reel was filled with rolling shots of urban landscapes, and slow-motion harmless acts of rebellion. It's a genre of music that simmers, garnering comparisons to a grittier Lana Del Ray.

Behind the musical moniker is Fredrika Ribbing, who first started to turn heads with her sultry, acoustically-strummed cover of Britney Spears’ "...Baby One More Time" in 2015. With her soft melancholy, rough edges, and slow-wave style, Ribbing sidestepped lingering fears that she started too late in the game (where pop stars are often groomed beginning in their single digits) and went on to release her latest, Ep. no 1, with B3SCI Records.

MIYNT’s six-track debut had the helping hand of producer Daniel Nigro, whose ear for soundscapes has previously worked with artists like Carly Rae Jepsen, JR JR, and Sky Ferreira. With MIYNT’s vision and Nigro’s guidance, the two have created a pleasingly moody palette, painted with rich and hazy instrumentation and highlighted by sighing vocals.

Take the gently unfolding “Bird,” which opens with MIYNT's signature murmuring lisp of a croon: “Say do you really want to know / Patiently I let them go / Through my window / You light a cigarette and look at me / Like I was some kind of threat / Someday I’ll confess.” Her voice is a haunting rumination laid over muted swells of reverb, later joined by an intimate guitar and cymbal-esque percussion. It’s a featherweight sort of sadness, which adds to the trance-like, floating quality of her work, rather than pulling us into a dark spell.

Then there’s "The Deer or the Hunter," which opens on a pulsating, high-pitched synth and sharp percussion. MIYNT’s voice melts, having the seductive quality of a heat mirage, warping her surrounding scenery. The song switches between stripped-down, quiet moments with a bare instrumentation and a lush, densely undulating backdrop. “Here I lost my cards / Here my lost notion / I swim with the sharks back to the ocean,” MIYNT sings lazily, the song pivoting on the question of predator or prey, and in all honesty, we've probably slipped into the latter role. Despite the slightly ominous vibes she emits, we still walk forward, pupils dilated with fascination. MIYNT has a sedated hook, and it sinks into us quick.

While MIYNT may be a Swedish native, she has the easy swagger of a Los Angeles transplant that’s touched down in Echo Park. With a grungy tint and electronic flourishes, she makes music that’s magnetic—piquing our curiosity for the hopefully inevitable Ep. no 2.