Music Review // Mint June "Surrendering Nina EP"

 

https://mintjune.bandcamp.com/album/surrendering-nina-ep //

When listening to Mint June, the first impression that I get is that the "Surrendering Nina EP" is going to be instrumental electronica, but the way that the songs seem to shift and flow throughout is what makes them so great.   Right away, the first song just moves and it has this almost funk-groove to it from the start, like Michael Jackson.  But the music is also bigger than just the sum of its parts, as at times it can feel as if certain instruments are just making the song sing.   So while there may not be vocals in the traditional sense, these songs do have a voice.

As we get into the second song, "You'll Like It", you begin to feel how this music changes but not too much.  This is important because every song shouldn't sound the same but they also should have a way of feeling connected.  There are bigger, echoing beats on "You'll Like It" and there is also an urgency to this song.   With laser blasts and pings, that force continues through "Those Guys", which has these sounds which kind of feel like singing but then there is also this overall sensual way about the song.  

While "Paige" (the first song) can feel like a way of introducing the listener to this whole EP, the next two songs seem to take on that electronic vibe I like to compare with the movie "Go", but then during the third and fourth song- "Montage" being the fourth- it really just comes out fast and ringing, which makes it feel more like something from "Run Lola Run".   But if you watch those two movies or listen to their music, this whole idea just works so well for the build as this EP just seems to increase in intensity.

The final song, "Nina", is hollow and atmospheric.  It remains this way throughout- a calm and empty void compared with those songs which came before it.  I am not someone who has ever been to a gym, but from what I gather from working out you want to have this cool down time afterwards- it's always been somewhat stated that you don't go fast and then sit down immediately.  In that sense, this EP could be used for workouts or something similar where you start at a fast tempo, getting faster with every song but then at the end have that time to decompress and come back to reality.