Album Review: Mansell – Mantra

Georgia trio Mansell formed a few years ago, they have a truly independent DIY spirit, writing and releasing their music on their own terms, Mantra is their debut album and it will be released digitally on November 11th. Mansell play a mix of Alternative and Indie that forms the core of their sound, but that’s not the whole story, as they state there is also an influence from art and expression, and it is this that prevents Mantra from being just another generic indie album.

We can skip the opening twenty second introduction of Walking On Bank Street and get straight to the meat and potatoes of the album, Mantra is an album that switches between downbeat bass driven indie rock and mellow unconventional art inspired sections, this means that this is by no means an album of indie by numbers, but the mix of styles means that the album just doesn’t really seem to flow. Mantra comes across as selections of atmospheric art rock that gel together, that are interspersed with slick sections of indie rock that seem to act as bookmarks between the more experimental elements of the album.

Mantra was produced and engineered by Jason Hoard, Ryan Wilson and Mansell themselves, this isn’t surprising given their commitment to independence and DIY, something that I will always encourage. Whilst Mantra isn’t an album that suits my tastes, it lacks the energy that I look for in a release, but that isn’t to say that is in anyway a bad album. It is an unconventional and individual approach to the indie genre, and in a world of identikit indie bands that is something to be encouraged.

Mantra will be available at all digital retail outlets this Friday, November 11th, and is available for pre-order now on iTunes

Mansell‘s website can be found here and their facebook page is here