Music Review // Kalbells "Mothertime" (NNA Tapes)

https://kalbells.bandcamp.com/album/mothertime //

Throughout the four songs on "Mothertime" the one thing which Kalbells accomplishes is creating songs which can fall into the same genre but sound different.  I realize this might not seem like a big deal if you're listening to music, but just imagine a master chef using the same recipe four times over and getting different results.    The majority of the time, if you have ingredients prepared in the same way you're going to result in the same dish.   The sounds which these songs have in common makes it feel as if they should sound more similar- almost like copies of each other- but that is simply not the case.

In a broad sense these songs are electro pop.   They remind me of a Polly Scattergood song being remixed or something in the early days of Madonna.    Through synths come drum machines and it just feels so blissed out.   It gets dreamy and takes us high into the clouds.  I hear a flute at different times and it becomes a somewhat staple on this album.   Through those grooves on "Cool and Bendable" come a cool drive and the sound of water to start "Precipice".    All of the sounds heard on the first three songs can feel blended together to form the fourth and final song, "Tremble".

There exists a balance between electronic music where it can be fast paced- the type you would put on to either dance or go on a fast drive and then the slower, chill type of ambient electro which can often times be almost minimal.  Kalbells finds the perfect spot between these two tempos to create the music which you will hear on "Mothertime".   It's not slow enough to make you feel relaxed, but it's not fast enough to where you want to dance.   Of course, being that it is in between both of these things also makes it both of them in some ways so the choice of whether you want to dance or chill is up to you.