 It’s summertime, summertime, sum-sum summertime. And if not, at least everything feels like it when listening to Mascott’s ‘Art project’. The ‘EP turns into album’ record of Kendall Jane Meade and co. is, with ten songs in 25 minutes, not exactly an everlasting album, but nevertheless one worth listening to. Two melancholically songs excepted, the album makes you think about all the beautiful things you ever linked with summer; freedom, holiday, going out, doing nothing, swimming pools, the beach, ice cream, love…and everything beyond. Mascott’s collection of crafted melodies and thoughtful lyrics starts off with three happy-go-lucky songs in a row; the Wurlitzer led ‘Live Again’, single ‘4th of July’ and ‘Press Play (and then Repeat), all heavily relying on the sweet little girl voice of Meade and the piano and acoustic guitar driven music, which suggests the band found their sound in the mid-nineties, a couple of years before they actually started. That life isn’t always sunshine and ice cream shows ‘Red Flower’. Singing about the loss of a soulmate and accompanied by an acoustic guitar only, the song is one of the albums few introspective moments and, as often with exceptions, one of the highlights. Was Meade’s voice the sound of summer in the happy songs, here she sounds more like the voice of broken innocence. Though she’s not a poet, especially in songs like this she offers clear stories and simple pictures about everyday life and everyday loss, which makes it the more attractive. Only divided by ‘Opposite’, which continues the road of the subtle dreamy indie pop of the pre ‘Flower’ era, the other highlight of this album is ‘Dream Another Day’. Meade never got so close to the perfect pop song as in this one, celebrating the life of doing nothing special and feeling utterly happy doing that. ‘Like Letting Go of the Sun’ is the second song of sadness. This time singing about a situation where losing a mate was an option deliberately chosen, and backed by a full band, ‘Letting Go’ reminds in a way of Tracy Bonham’s ‘Sharks Can’t Sleep’ - both the guitar part and the disappointment in the voice seem to be inspired by Bonham’s 1996 song - and again, its straight lyrics work out for the better. Though ‘Dream Another Day’ relative ‘Oh Peggy’ is the official bonus track, it’s the country standard ‘Wildwood Flower’ that seems to be the extra and a little bit misplaced on this album. The 1860’s song, popularized by the Carter Family and revitalized by Mascott and Naysayer Anna Padgett is very well done but completely out of tune with the rest of the album. It is nevertheless a nice song for all ye boys and gals, who like singing songs about the Southland. If anything, this album is about everything and nothing, about black and white, gain and loss (love and hate, the sun and the moon, etc.). It is, in short, a tender collection of different songs about different moods, based on everyday life. The real catchyness is – outside of ‘Dream Another Day’ – absent on this album but for a nice, romantic summer evening of holding hands in your bedroom with the love of your life, it’s quite a nice album to listen to when nothing needs to be said.
Last edited by jack s : June 22, 2009 at 07:07 AM.
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| | | | Overall Rating | | 7 | | Vocals / Lyrics | | 8 | | Musicianship | | 8 | | Production | | 8 | | Creativity | | 7 | | Lastability | | 7 | | Reviewers Tilt | | 7 |
74% | |
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MASCOTT - ‘Art Project’
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