Review Summary: Proof that atmosphere isn't everything.
Seeing as music can provide escapism just like any other artistic medium, I’ve always had a fondness for getting “lost” in the atmosphere of a record. Just put on the headphones, turn out the lights, and let the songs take you where they will. But such a concept poses the difficult question of how much you’re actually willing to
engage with the album in question. If all a song does is lull you into a state of relaxation without actually being very interesting, is it still good music because it relaxed and soothed you? I suppose it depends on what you’re looking for in your music at a given time, but certainly there’s a fine line between being pleasant and being boring.
Unfortunately, that’s the dilemma when listening to
Mythopoetics by Half Waif. On one hand, the record is very pretty. Most of the songs lay on a bed of expansive keyboards and electronic flourishes, combining the vocal stylings of indie pop with the instrumentation of synthpop. There are deviations from this formula from time to time, such as the opening piano-led intro “Fabric” with its minimalist design and simple arrangement, but such songs are exceptions. The first song proper “Swimmer” lives up to its title by giving off the feeling of swimming in the figurative river of synthesizers rushing all around the slow beat; the problem is that way too many tracks follow this same sound and aesthetic to a tee. Almost every song shares a near-identical tempo and beat, often maintaining the same slow crawl to accommodate the lush keys; after six or seven tracks of this, the record starts to become an indistinguishable mush. It doesn’t help that Half Waif herself sounds just as languid and detached as the music, opting for slow crooning and dreamlike harmonies; both sound nice, but there’s not much excitement or variation to be found in them.
That’s not to say that everything’s bad; in fact, there’s still quite a lot to like. The intimate piano-led moments I briefly touched on earlier are still very enjoyable, with tracks like “The Apartment”, “Sourdough”, and “Powder” offering some of the most emotionally resonant moments on the record. They’re a nice change of pace as well, and it would have been neat to have a few more of them strewn about the tracklist. As for the more synth-driven songs, the highlights are the tracks that have a buildup or other sense of progression as they play out. “Party’s Over” might be the best example, a beautiful tune whose pulsing keyboards are met with deep bass and some of the catchiest vocals on the album. Eventually the floating synths that begin the song transform into increasingly complex backing vocals harmonies and busy drum patterns as the track hits a climax near the end. Great stuff. Meanwhile, “Orange Blossoms” benefits from an ebb-and-flow approach to its dynamics and overall sound. The piano and synth parts manage to both intertwine and juxtapose each other at various times within the piece, making for a more textured and emotionally complex song. Moments like these at least go some way toward making up for the record’s weaker moments.
Mythopoetics is a pretty frustrating album. In fact, as contradictory as it sounds, I would call it “frustratingly pleasant”. It hits all the beats you’d expect from a synth pop or even an indie pop album, but there’s really no distinguishable feature about it other than the pretty keyboards that tend to overwhelm the record as a whole. It’s decent enough to at least call worthwhile for one listen, but don’t expect anything overly engaging; once the allure of its lovely atmosphere wanes, you’ll probably find yourself wanting to move on to something more substantial and interesting.
