Mark Mitchell’s second CD-R album was called Calculated
Steps Towards A Better World, and listening to
Come Here When You Sleep Walk, it feels like
he is well on his way to get you there as quickly as
he can. Far from the total abstraction championed with
more or less success by the majority of electronic musicians
these days, Mitchell weaves beautiful melodies on soft
sounds, building proper songs and captivating instrumentals.
Hailing from Adelaid, Australia, twenty-three year old
Mark Mitchell has been gently establishing his blend
of electornic folk for a couple of years, with a series
of CD-R’s and celebrated live performances around
the world, with The Wire declaring his performance as
one of the highlights of the 2001 Sound Summit Festival
in Newcastle. Following a first album released as Super
Science (Love Like Life In Miniature) in 2000
on Australian label Surgery, Come Here When You
Sleepwalk is Mitchell’s first worldwide release.
While the ever-excellent Mush Records, home of cLOUDDEAD
and Boom Bip, have
grabbed this album to distribute it in the states, the
European release is handled by the equally brilliant
Leaf Label. Understandably compared to Dntel’s
first solo album, Life
Is Full Of Possibilities, released in 2001
on Plug Research, Come Here When You Sleepwalk
also evokes the naïve expressionism of Boards
Of Canada or Múm.
His music seems however based on more organic instrumentation,
with elements of guitars and piano finding their way
into the dreamy sounds capes. It has to be said that
when crossing over from the comfort of the studio to
the live environment, Clue To Kalo becomes a trio, with
laptops and turntable enhanced by a variety of real
instruments, bringing a whole new dimension to the project.
Alternating with instrumentals is a series of delicate
pop songs reminiscent of early Badly Drawn Boy. Mitchell’s
voice is as soft as his melodies, and seems to melt
over the compositions. With tracks such as Within
Reach Of My Own Arms, We’ll Live Free
(In NYC), Still We Felt Bulletproof or
Do You Know That Love Can End providing some
of the most intense moments of this album, Come
Here When You Sleepwalk reveals its beauty little
by little as each layer becomes more obvious with each
listen.
This first album from Clue To Kalo offers a rather nice
alternative to almost anything purely electronic, with
refreshing melodies and sonic constructions, and will
charm its way right into the listener’s heart.
Come Here When You Sleepwalk proves to be a
collection of genuinely simple, straightforward and
human compositions.
3.7/5 |
