ALBUM REVIEW: Lonesome Valley – Mundy’s Bay
The last several years has seen wave after wave of emerging bands break down the barriers of genre constraints and paint an expansive and explorative musical picture. It’s a wonderful sight to behold as it means that surprises lie in wait at every turn and when it strikes, it can leave you breathless. Such is the case with MUNDY’S BAY. Hailing from Montreal, this quarter pull from a wide breadth of musical styles and genres and their debut full-length effort, Lonesome Valley, is nothing short of breathtaking.
Fusing elements of post-punk, dream-pop, indie, electro and shoegaze, to pigeon-hole MUNDY’S BAY into one particular sub-sector of alternative music would be doing the quartet a great disservice. Instead, what one must anticipate when diving into their dreamy debut album is to expect the unexpected and it makes for a much more rewarding listen. Opener Goodbye sets an immediately strong precedent for the quality on offer here as vocalist Esther Mulders instantly impresses with rich and warming vocal deliveries and dispatches a chorus that is an absolute earworm as her vocals intertwine with neat guitar play from John Donnelly and Victor Beaudoin incredibly well. Right from the off, it’s clear that MUNDY’S BAY have a mission statement to whisk you away to a dreamland and with Goodbye, the band have made a strong first step in making that ambition a reality.
As Lonesome Valley unfolds, it becomes increasingly clear that the experimentation and refusal to be pigeon-holed into one musical style has been a masterstroke from the band. Seasons Pass sets an early claim for the best song on the record as an up-tempo drumbeat, indie-inspired twin guitar harmonies and another strong vocal display from Mulders captures and holds your attention from the first note to the last, Dreams‘ uplifting chorus injects enough energy to give you a big lift at the album’s halfway point and Heaven’s Close feels like it could fit right at home in the soundtrack for Black Mirror‘s San Junipero episode thanks to the 1980s-esque synths, which act as the bedrock to the track, and a charming personality which fits the aesthetic perfectly.
Whilst Esther Mulders is certainly the focal point to MUNDY’S BAY‘s rich and entrancing sound thanks to her flawless vocal work, it’s the ability in which she combines with her bandmates that make this band such a treasure. The one-two punch of Moonlight and J’ai tout perdu, the last two songs on the album, is the shining example of this and demonstrates the band at their very best. Moonlight benefits from a lovely combination of guitarists John Donnelly and Victor Beaudoin simplistic patterns with Mulders‘ ever so soothing vocal deliveries soaring above the backdrop whilst J’ai tout perdu is nothing short of spectacular. Here, the band are at the top of their game as their cross-pollinating sound is in overload as synths, indie-driven guitarplay and simply stunning vocal deliveries play off each other incredibly well, ensuring the album finishes on a resounding high.
For a debut effort, Lonesome Valley is jaw-dropping. On paper, such an amalgamation of various sub-genres of alternative music could have spelled disaster, but the way in which MUNDY’S BAY fuse them together into one cohesive and intoxicating soundscape is remarkable. The world is in such a dangerous place right now and this album has arrived at a time where people need escapism more than ever to cope with the worsening crisis of Coronavirus. Switch off from the outside world and dive into MUNDY’S BAY‘s dreamy musical realm.
Rating: 9/10
Lonesome Valley is out now via Pure Noise Records.
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