It’s been a long wait for MNDR’s debut full-length since they dropped their first EP in 2010.
The New York electropop duo, made up of Amanda Warner and Peter Wade, trade in a sort of fashionably moody take on the typically upbeat genre.
The album starts off with single ‘#1 In Heaven’, a delicious slice of sinister synth-pop and the best song on the album.
Unfortunately, the duo never gets close to reaching the same heights for the rest of the album.
There are some nice moments – ‘U.B.C.L’ has some great, tight bass with wonky synths and restless percussion; it’s the longest song on the album and unsurprisingly finds the band at their most comfortable.
The slow-paced title track contains a lonely bass pulse with lush pizzicato strings and the album’s best vocal performance, with a hauntingly abrupt finish.
Lamentably, there are also some one-dimensional moments; by comparison Warner’s singing on ‘Burning Hearts’ grates, and the synths sound positively whiney. ‘Faster Horses’ contains some pretty throwaway lyrics and is simply electropop by numbers with a hook that just doesn’t stick.
It’s a pretty crowded marketplace in the female fronted pop world – Robyn, Charli XCX, Katy B, Goldfrapp are all very strong options, which makes the fact that MNDR’s debut is a bit patchy pretty disappointing.
There is enough on MNDR’s debut to prove they can make some memorable anthems – let’s hope their sophomore release can strengthen what they hint at here.
– Wyatt Lawton-Masi
