Review by Vince Leigh
Canberra based music artist Mood. has just released GOGO, a curious blend of R&B infused pop and soulful electronica.
Blurring genres is a commendable aim, and Mood seems to have this fine art down. I suspect Mood’s other aims include signposting that magical era for synth sovereignty, the 1980s, with lines such as Hit the floor like the 80s.
Utilising a flotilla of contemporary sonic fire, including vocal manipulation, ethereally enhanced voice effects and efficient machine drums, GOGO harnesses a series of subtle melodic pathways that – rather than reach a kind of dramatic peak – build a persuasive layer of enticing aural sweet and light to reinforce the lyric’s logic: seduction.
Steady and streamlined, and tinctured with a very fine coat of eloquence, GOGO oozes effortlessly through several states of attempted emotional manipulation, and for the most part, it succeeds. It is mostly eloquent anyway, and with one line alluding to a sense of self-awareness, this can only be congratulated: On my mind so catchy / hottie and a savage.
Hottie and a savage; sounds like the title of an escapist film for adulterated teens.
Containing a few surprises, the arrangement feels quite mercurial, with its recurring synth swells delineating two strong melodic sections that, when following on from each other, seem to act as a twin-pronged chorus. These are the parts that are drenched in pop goodness, reaching pleasing climatic lines while offering a dynamic counterpoint to the less focused sections.
Mood.’s multi-faceted skills certainly get a work out on this record, and perhaps most effectively concerning the vocal parts, which are astutely placed, creating an enticing surface of human cadences that provide a rich and firm scaffold upon which the more scheming music motifs are laid out.
This is late-night escapism, a seduction technique that blends a myriad of converging musical elixirs and creates a smooth and sophisticated distillation that satisfies on many levels.
