Reviews

Artist: Manadala
EPs:Before Memory/The Tears Of A Thousand Angels
Label:Elypsoid
Tracks: 5/5
Rating: ***
Contact:   www.withinMandala.com

I've never not listened to an album because it's got a lousy cover. The old proverb pretty much holds true. I'd have missed out on some decent records if I had, but I will confess that I have been persuaded to give something a go ,by a decent cover. When it comes down to it I'm a sucker for clean lines and something slightly mysterious
The simple answer to that is yes, both of the EPs, Before Memory and The Tears Of A Thousand Angels, delivered a sound and expectation. Manadala's work has been described as 'folk noir' and 'Melancholy Laden Melodies with soaring strings' by the Guardian and Time Out respectively. The two short descriptions, capture muc of the band's sound but miss the strength that underpins it.
Band front man, Neil Marsh, writes the songs, but it's down to the whole band to sort out the arrangement. There's cellos and violins in te arrangements, as well as harmonium and mellotron. This is not an instrumentation choice for shinny happy music.
What it is is an instrumentation choice for well tought out music, with just a touch of electronica. There's also an odd power chord that appears in the course of a number of songs on the eps, that serve to help keep you on edge whilst you wait for te next surprise to come out of sound or lyric.
Upfront, I don't think that Neil is the best singer I've come across, either for power or for tone of voice, but he makes up for that by writying to his know limitations and surrounding the songs with great musicianship
Before Memory and The Tears Of A Thousand Angels come at you almost Romulous and Remus like. Almost like both sides of an old vinyl lp each within their own strength, but separated from each other by a need to get out of the chair and give it a flip.
The style definitely lives in the folk/roots world, but it also pulls in sounds from the rock and jazz world, blending to enhance rather than distract. Manadala have a couple of eps they can be prod off and I look forward to their next cut