Before I get started, I wanna state that I have the album on while writing this, and you should throw it on too while reading for maximum immersion.
In a week when I wanted to mostly reminisce about the songs/albums that really struck me this year, this landed in my feed.
And what a gift that was.
Genre and Inspirations
Blue Mena falls under the wonderfully vague genre of "dreampop/indie pop."
You'll find elements of late 2010s indie for sure, and the shoegaze that inspired it. Nostalgic and melancholic.
Upon hearing it, I wanted to add it to my collection but was shocked to find Blue Mena did not list this album on their bandcamp page. They do have a bandcamp, but the only post is one Broadcast cover.
If you want to own the files for yourself, you'll likely have to follow what I did and dust off the old iTunes store.
Standout Tracks
Because I know people are more inclined to listen to a single or two than entire albums, here's some tracks I found to be standouts:
- Kill the Mood
- Knocked Out
- Man in Your Eyes
Kill the Mood
If you've ever heard a Little Dragon song, "Kill the Mood" is a lot like that.
Very immersive dreamy synths (with random more-noise-than-notes sounds) perfectly blended with grunge guitar and bass.
Knocked Out
This song has a really charming intro. Mena's bandcamp page describes them as a "Brooklyn-based producer + songwriter + composer, they/them". This song in particular makes the "composer" part really obvious.
While using modern instrumentation, the song feels lightly orchestral in the way that each instrument has little moments to shine.
Man in Your Eyes
If you're going to listen to just a single song from this album, this is the one.
As mentioned in the pervious section, Mena Sachdev (aka Blue Mena) is nonbinary.
"Man in Your Eyes" is powerful for me for many reasons, not least of which is its rich lyrical content. As of the writing of this post, the lyrics of this song are not posted anywhere, but there are a couple standout lines:
- "Time don't exist when you're mine."
- "I'll be your man for tonight."
At a certain point, it's more about the hypnotic lullaby of the repeating melody. It's really reassuring and calming.
Conclusion
In a year chock full of great discoveries, Multi Adolescence stands out in both its virtuosity and understatedness.
It's something you could have on for a calm walk or an evening in.
Happy to have it be one of the last albums to grace my ears this year!