Out today, Mohawk Castle‘s sophomore album Stoners Trail is an ambitious full-length shaped by weighty subject matter, personal reflection, and an eclectic range of influences, from Animal Collective to LCD Soundsystem. The Los Angeles project is the brainchild of Erik David Hidde, who draws on a near-death car accident he survived as a young man in upstate New York as one of the experiences informing the album, alongside explorations of PTSD, spirituality, mortality, and social unrest.
Opening track “Music from a Cloud” showcases Hidde’s excellent songwriting, spanning in atmospheric depth and structural momentum. Spacey synth trickling resonates here to start, complemented by a serene vocal introspection. “It’s all I’ve ever wanted, and all I dreamed of,” he sings, musing on blissful sounds as an arpeggiated synth sharpness ensues within the “all I dreamed of” refrain. His performance attains a multi-layered ardor in the second half, tonally resembling a cross of David Byrne and LCD Soundsystem; the track sets the album into lovely motion, taking particular inspiration from the aforementioned LCD Soundsystem and Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion era.
Highlights are abundant throughout. “Sunset Diner” enthralls in its narrative-forward songwriting, depicting the story of a waitress who lives downtown with her abusive father. The account of meeting a young man, who inspires her to one day open her own diner and start anew, is stirring in its depiction of personal power. Serene synths and understated, affecting delivery send enjoyable chills, reminiscent of The Blue Nile, with the “they’ll never catch up to you again” weepy refrain capturing the impact of moving past current limitations and living situations.
The ensuing track, “Projects,” then continues the character-driven songwriting, here pinpointing the struggles of veterans with PTSD. An uneasy combination of vocal layers, including both deep tonal bellowing and higher-pitched haunts, creates an aptly unsettling listening experience. Another gem is “My Body Heals Itself,” where lyrical accounts like “both your eyes are gone” capture a sort of personal deterioration, set against a stylish array of simmering electronics. Stoners Trail is a wholly affecting, dynamic full-length from Mohawk Castle.
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This and other tracks featured this month can be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Emerging Singles’ Spotify playlist.
We discovered this release via MusoSoup.
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