Faded Heart is dark, but not in a sinister way. It is definitely introspective, but not in a self consumed manner. The record permeated with honesty and, despite having a melancholic tone, is not devoid of hope. This is an album that aches, one overflowing with emotion and feeling.
[Purchase] The world of electronic music is a pretty patriarchal place. Female artists are the exception, not the norm. Not sure why this is, but it generally is the way. Yet, there are artists of the fairer sex out there releasing some serious sounds. Enter Mushy, one of the latest signings to Mannequin.
Mushy, aka Valentina Fanigliulo, is not a novice, clocking up a decent spread of releases and appearances on various labels. For her latest this 26 year-old Rome inhabitant has offered up Faded Heart, a diverse range of styles and sounds. The listener is immediately submerged into Mushy’s world, with arches of synth and wrenching vocals in “Child of Light Will Burn” being the introduction. The track is raw, humming with industrial echoes but slow and balanced. Mushy’s sound adopts a serious element of shoegaze to it, but extends agony and dread into crippling fragments. The tracks feel like laments, “Too Far” haunting lost or unforged relationships. There’s something along the lines of Broadcast or Portishead to Mushy’s sound, but it is steeped in a downtrodden and oddly wonderful disintegration. “Objects in the Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear” is purely instrumental, and without the vocals the sound morphs into an open electronic scape reminiscent of beatless electronica or ambient abstraction. Mushy’s sounds do have a warmth to them, but it is the pitch, the style and the aching vocals that tether them to sorrow. “Faded Heart” maintains the slow pace with vocals echoing in ghostly waves. For “No More” Mushy has teamed up with Newclear Waves and a minimal synth layer descends with simple machine beats and terse synths as lyrics once again disturb and unsettle. Some of Mushy’s constructs have a real soundtrack quality to them, such as “Moan” soaring movements which peak and trough. This movie score element is most prevalent in the lush and cascading sounds of “She Was Elsewhere,” which, with its analogue arpeggios, mirrors the likes of Tangerine Dream or Vangelis. For those with a digital side the CD release has a few extra goodies. Soft Metals, a new group for me, give their amazing take on “No More” whilst Newclear Waves dissect an reassemble “Losing Days.” Fellow Rome dweller Heinrich Dressel, of Minimal Rome and Strange Life Records fame, turns out a rich and soulful mix of “Too Far” before Crossover produce a heart breaking version of the same.
Faded Heart is quite a fascinating listen. It is dark, but not in a sinister way. It is definitely introspective, but not in a self consumed manner. The record permeated with honesty and, despite having a melancholic tone, is not devoid of hope. This is an album that aches, one overflowing with emotion and feeling. To top it off the remixes are truly excellent and add a further twist to this excellent album.
Faded Heard is out now on Mannequin. [Purchase]
Mushy – Faded Heart CD/LP MIX by Mannequin Label
