MIXE1 Starlit Skin Exclusive Review

MIXE1 Starlit Skin Review

By Phlis ( Alterior Anarchy)

These days I do find it hard to find time to do with reviews because as a writer my time is taken up with interviews and the like. So to fit an album in for review it has to be something special or something I have been waiting for. MIXE1 is a band I have followed since the very early days through the MIXE1 EPs up until this which is their debut album. I have always felt a connection to the music and words of the MIXE1 songs so yes this is an album I have been waiting a long time for. So am I going to be pleased by what I hear or not?

Well the album starts with Talking In Our Sleep, it starts with an anime like introduction then into the now familiar sound I have grown to love. Marvellous beats, well played rhythmic and heavy guitars plus Mike’s signature soft and aggressive vocals. Mike’s vocal have a beautiful way of emphasising the emotion of the song with the amazing lullaby tones followed up by that immense screamo style that he has mastered. Now with a full band behind him MIXE1 has evolved fully into something very good. Talking In Our Sleep emphasises that growth and evolution.

Next is Break You Down, again it has that lovely anime style tones backed up by the now harsher but toneful style. This is without exception MIXE1, that there is no mistake. The sound is fuller, more polished and just the next stage of what I grew to love those years ago. Still soft and aggressive but yet more.

We’ve Changed starts with a lovely electronic beat which is accompanied with drums and guitars but yet that electronic beat resonates through the music. Vocals again are harmonious with the electronica then into the catchy music to which you can’t help but want to move about to. I am pleased with this album so far, that MIXE1 sounds is there in huge amounts but yet the sound has matured immensely. The influx of new members has helped Mike build a truer sound but there is no loss of what he started with.

The title track of the album is fourth on the album. Starlit Skin starts on what is a very happy note in the music, this is one of those songs where you feel exactly what the song is about. It’s looking up at a stary skin with the one you love beside you. This is a very emotional song, its a great love song. Tears well in my eyes when I hear this as it just hits your heart strings, a song of you are in love then the music and words resonate your feelings for the one you love.

Plug Me In Tonight is yet another soulful and emotional song, subtle electronic sounds with Mike’s wonderfully sweet vocals. The sound then perks to emphasis that emotion with the wonderful music and screams by Mike.

Here is a song to get you truly moving, its yet another song from this masterpiece so far. MIXE1 is a band you need to know about. Here is a very happy song with a strong back beat, synthetically created sounds infused with perfectly put together accompaniment of beautiful rifty guitars that sing in the same soulfulness of the vocals.

Image follows on with a metal edge, every time I listen to this album I am discovering more and more. Every part of this music is perfectly in place, ok time for a theasorus as I am using too many of these words too much. Oh this song has a lovely brutal edge at some points.

The Show is a side I haven’t heard, growly vocals and it fits too. This is an edge I never knew was in the music of MIXE1. The brutality is followed up by that now well refined MIXE1 sound. And oh yet more death metal style vocals, what is this Mike? This has been pulled out of somewhere yet what shouldn’t fit does as its done at the right time in the song. A new found heaviness with the existing groove. I like it.

All 4U is yet another balanced track of that impressionable sound with a great amount of feeling in both vocals and music. The words are immaculate, oh oh more death metal style vocals. I’m not used to that harshness but it works, I don’t know how it does but it DOES.

Airwaves has a little attitude but yet it doesn’t, what can I say. I am trying to find words to describe what I hear but I am stuck. The songs are on some parts heart warming, spontaneous, passionate and full of life in every angle. Music, vocals and lyrics just form what is near perfect. It’s rare I find music that can pluck at my heart strings and swell emotions inside. Sometimes you feel emotion inside when you hear music but its not what the artist intended you to feel but with the music of MIXE1 the perfect lyrical content give you confirmation of what you are already feeling.

Last on this superb album is the Beat Version of Talking In Our Sleep, this is a lighter version of the original song that you hear first. Mike is accompanied on this track vocally by his wife Amie, her vocals fit in perfectly. As Amie and Mike make a lovely couple in life vocally they are a match made in heaven. Amie’s vocals are sweet yet haunting, her sound is one that will hit you so hard but yet so softly. Amie’s vocals truly shine through, this version brings true depth to the original song.

I cannot really give marks out of ten or whatever for Starlit Skin , its an album I have waited a few years for and I will say its been worth every second of the wait. I am overwhelmed by how the MIXE1 sound has matured and evolved but yet Mike has managed to keep that true heart in every track. Its the first time I have heard Amie sing and her sound is provocative, alluring and haunting. There are certain songs like Starlit Skin and Talking In Our Sleep where Mike tells of his true love for Amie but yet he manages to to turn it around so the listener gets that emotion and can tell the full emotions. Starlit Skin is truly one of those songs that you would send to the one true love of your life. This album has it all and it really has been worth the wait. If you like electronica, metal or industrial then I think you may really gel with this album. Its well worth the money, its superb.

www.mixe1.com

Buy the digital album from http://mixe1.bandcamp.com/album/starlit-skin