The Mantra Above the Spotless Melt Moon - Ghost Dance
The Mantra Above the Spotless Melt Moon (or The Mantra ATSMM for short), are a band from Italy who incorporate elements from prog rock, shoegaze, electronica and even indie rock into their music, as they do on their newest album, "Ghost Dance". Their previous works have included the album "Defeated Songs", and the beautiful song 'Clouds'. Here they try and follow those up with more of the same.
Fans of the band would probably find this album immediately likeable, but if this is your first time hearing the band, this may not be the case. It is not a readily accessible album of straightforward indie melodies, and it is not an album that can really be picked apart with individual tracks (though there are a couple that do stand out) - it is very much a record that demands to be listened to as a whole, from start to finish, for better or worse. The opener, 'Heads or Tails' does a very good job of showcasing what this band is about: it is a swirling, dreamy track that combines elements of shoegaze with 70s prog-rock. The vocals atop it are powerful, if sometimes indecipherable, and it makes for a promising start. It follows with 'Death Baby Chicco', which itself contains guitars that sound particularly like early Pink Floyd, circa. 'Astronomy Domine'. The album continues in this fashion from start to finish, each track blending into the next (although 'The Wolf' sounds like filler), making them very hard to keep track of. The vocals form a kind of collage with the musical backing, making the whole album sound like a work produced by accomplished musicians. Think if Wild Beasts, Deerhunter and The Antlers had an illegitimate lovechild, and add a female singer. A standout track is 'Trieste', which dupes you into thinking it almost sounds conventional with an indie sounding riff that opens it, before descending back into dreaminess.
This may all sound like high praise, and for the first half of the album it is mostly deserved, but the second half of the album (really, 'Harlequin' onwards) starts to trail off into the kind of area we might label 'pretentious'. The vocals proceed to become either impossible to pick out or indecipherable strings of words, whilst the music become less and less accessible. However, in the second half of the album is a hidden gem in the form of 'Constellations', which is undeniably lovely and a departure from the rest of the albums overall sound. Unfortunately, this one fantastic track alone is not enough to save the final few tracks. The closer, 'Mano Tupapau', is barely listenable, and the final part of the track descends into meaningless noise. But perhaps I just don't 'get' it yet.
Fans of the band may very well love this, but if you're looking to discover what this band are like for the first time, it might be best to look elsewhere to start off with. This is not an easily accessible album and requires attention and patience, but it does have its brilliant moments.