Mildlife - Phase

Mildlife – Phase

Melbourne-based four-piece band Mildlife enter the scene with their debut album Phase, drawing on such diverse influences as jazz, disco and psychedelic rock to create a heady and truly intoxicating concoction. The opening track and lead single The Magnificent Moon is already available for consumption; you’ll have to wait until February 23rd for the full course.

The very first seconds tell you everything you need to know about this album: hypnotic keyboard themes lay the groundwork for groovy jams and well-penned verses. With track titles like Zwango Zop and The Gloves Don’t Bite, you can be sure that this band don’t take themselves too seriously, although the music has definitely been created thoughtfully with artistic vision.

While The Magnificent Moon is by far the most accessible and catchy of the songs, more investigation shows the band have other tricks up their sleeve. On Im Blau, the title of which surely hints towards a fascination with krautrock, there is something of a breakdown towards the centre of the track, featuring a flute solo over the shuffling drums. The title track Phase meanwhile pursues a more languid pace, harking back to laid-back ’70s jazz fusion. Unusually, the drums pick up the pace towards the end, followed by a crescendo that results in an even slower tempo than before.

Despite all this, the tracks do have a tendency to sound very similar to each other, which is a good thing – or a bad thing depending on how you view it. The album flows almost seamlessly, making it difficult to remember a particular track, besides maybe The Magnificent Moon. The feel of the album is unforgettable though and is perfect for that morning commute where you need to shut out all the noise and stress. Funnily enough, when I added the album to my iTunes account, the Genre field was filled in as “Unknown Genre”, which fittingly hits the nail on the head for Mildlife.

TRACK LISTING
01. The Magnificent Moon (8:52)
02. Zwango Zop (4:49)
03. Im Blau (7:09)
04. Phase (6:20)
05. Two Horizons (6:04)
06. The Gloves Don’t Bite (6:48)

Total Time – 39:59

MUSICIANS
Kevin McDowell – Synthesisers, Rhodes & Vocals
Adam Halliwell – Guitar
Tomas Shanahan – Bass Guitar
James Donald – Drum Kit
Craig Shanahan – Congas

ADDITIONAL INFO
Record Label: Research Records
Country of Origin: Australia
Release Date: 23rd February 2018

LINKS
Mildife – Website | Facebook | Bandcamp | Soundcloud | Instagram