Mellowdrone - 'A Demonstration Of Intellectual Property' (B-Unique)
3/5
By: Toby L
'I guess I am a spoilt brat... Compared to you, I'd rather be that...'
Presumably, Venezuela-born singer/songwriter Jonathan Bates has skeletons in the closet. In spite of being a multi-versatile musician and performer, somewhat apparently, his bittersweet tales of love and angst are the antidote to his otherwise, overly brooding, troubled mind.
Dreamy melodies enlaced with a bleak undertone therefore, and Bates' debut-EP 'A Demonstration Of Intellectual Property' is an all-too fulfilling first stab at public-therapy. Recorded simplistically amidst a bedroom set-up, and embracing the arch, understated/domineering hybrid that finally enabled Guy Garvey's Elbow such an instant audience a couple of years back, the furrowing keys and crashing guitars, let alone the bearer's own world-beaten vocal-whiplash, create an immediately fascinating soundtrack.
The driven pulse and buzzy glory of 'Fashionably Uninvited'; the shimmering drama of opening instrumental, (the not incredibly) 'Tinylittle'; gently hammering throb of 'And Repeat' (where our Eels-paralleling master demands, 'Stop f**king wasting my time' in a non-discreet tone that suggests you don't have a choice in the matter); and electronica groove of 'Beautiful Day' - it communally points towards a secretly engaging force that you'd preferably choose to embrace, possibly time and time again...
But, before such a prospect, let's eagerly wait for the full picture first, no matter how darkly, hypnotically absorbing and probing it may prove to be.
Artists in this article: Mellowdrone
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