Review - Mountfield

The Defective Inspector escapes from his computer screen for a while and listens to new music from Mountfield...



Social media has a bit of a love/hate relationship with me these days. While I enjoy the connectivity of the universe via an ominous internet cloud I also find it difficult to tolerate some of the political bashing that happens almost daily. So it was a real pleasure to see a friend of a friend was releasing an EP in summer for the first time ever. They are trying to live his dream as a musician which frankly is a dream worth striving for.



So who are Mountfield? Short story really as they are only just coming onto the music scene. It seems the world we live in today allows people to attempt self-publications which is absolutely brilliant. They are based in Brighton, UK and are composed of the two Burnage Brothers: David and Robbie. It appears they have a strong desire to be musicians and have been plugging away for the last 8 months getting the feel of their music right before hitting up a recording studio. Like most new bands they stretch their definition out pretty far immersing themselves in 5 genres on Facebook (Rock, Acoustic, Indie, Alternative and Pop) but realistically these guys are Indie, it is part of the reason why I am writing this now.

As it stands the only recording we have as internet dwellers is their first single release “Scared”. It’s a sneak peek into the sound of Mountfield and gives you a certain level of awareness for the future of the EP. When looking over the website Mountfield consider their style to be emotional and rhythmic and that’s a fair statement based on this single. The music is rather groovy and melodic while still sticking to the current trend people like Coldplay and Mumford and Sons, leading me to believe they have a leg to stand on. The instrumental work is not immensely complex but sometimes that is a good thing, complexity doesn’t necessarily mean better and I think the mellowness they are going for resonates properly in a more straight forward composition. Vocally we are not given too much for the first single so it’s hard to say if this is the limited range of a new coming group or if it’s simply because the song doesn’t need the vocal cords to be strained too much. This is one thing to keep in mind when the EP is released as I am sure it’ll reveal more both instrumentally and vocally



There are a few things which don’t sit exceptionally well. While the vocals themselves are fairly middle ground there appears to be some double over effect where the lead vocalist’s voice has been duplicated and slightly shifted. This effect isn’t unusual in the musical world but it doesn’t sound… right, like it was done poorly. Strangely this is often more down to the mixing rather than the vocalist themselves but I can’t help but notice it. The lyrics themselves are… alright. I’m giving a bit of leeway because it’s a new group but there is room for improvement. I think maybe because I prefer more upbeat tunes that I have a natural iffy-ness so I am hoping when the EP comes out there is something there to make me bounce a little more.



Overall for the first single of a young band? Not bad at all! If you sit in the world of Indie Rock/Pop then there is a good chance you’ll enjoy Mountfield as they stand right now. While there are some gears to oil and bolts to tighten I think the machine is running and with a bit more attention it could go full speed.







Images - Mountfield website.