Mnevis – Sparks (Zig Zag)
Modern kids and young grown-ups are stuck between two fantasies. In the first one, they get everything that they deserve, especially a lot of money, fame, and popularity. They might not know it, but it’s a fantasy others like them have been entertaining for centuries. Ah, how nice to dream!
The second fantasy involves giving it all up, packing it all in, and moving to a place so remote that not even your TikTok notifications will find you. That’s a little more novel, although the hippies might want to have a word with you about exactly how original this is.
Why go into trouble to remove yourself from society? Why pay the airplane fee for such faraway lands? To find out! What exactly? Well, that remains to be seen, but it sure as hell will be something different than what has already been seen.
Mnevis sound like they collectively traveled to the desert, leaving the Swiss Alps behind, and, once settled, heard dance music pouring out of every dune. The result is “Sparks (Zig Zag),” a song meant to show that Mnevis has removed all barriers related to genre categorization. Worth the trip, worth the listen!
Wanda What – Big Tree
Pop stars, for the most part, love their childhoods. They like nothing more than telling stories of the first pair of shoes that they got or the lady who used to sell them milk. I know this because those are the first hundred or so pages of any pop star autobiography, and skipping those is the first thing I do when I read one of those things.
Now, the thing is that these entertainers love to reminisce. But they only do so when the lights are out and when the meter ain’t running. They know that when performing, the last thing audiences want to hear is nostalgia-filled stories about childhood. It’s peculiar since, frankly, reading the other parts of their biographies reveals that not a lot of growing up has occurred in the decades that followed.
Give me nostalgia-soaked, childish music. And make it sound as innocent as a kid walking a puppy. That’s what Wanda What’s “Big Tree” sounds like. And it’s by design, too. The PR statement for the song ensures that this sound is in vogue. I’m not surprised. Like someone handing you the first piece of apple piece you’ve had in 20 years, it’s bound to send the brain into flashback mode. Keep an ear out for the vocal delivery in “Big Tree,” a veritable indie-rock “The Sound of Music.”
