From Boston, MA comes the very unique, compelling, and electronic infused-psychedelic sound of Mind The Journey. Their album Color In The Gray Machine is unlike most other albums released over 2015, as it primarily stays within the realm of Art-rock in my opinion, and as such, there doesn’t seem to be the desire to produce only radio friendly songs.
Opening with a sound clip titled Falling Down, the album quickly kicks into motion with the first true track titled Desserts. The song itself is best described as Daft Punk meets Tycho meets Sam Roberts. It is fast paced, heavily electronic and sounds like it should be on a movie soundtrack.
Interdimensional Romance is another quick paced emotional outcry from the band. Although it doesn’t bring anything new to the table, it does solidify the sound that you can expect to hear over the rest of Color In The Gray Machine, which isn’t a bad thing at all.
Moving through the album it became clear that Mind The Journey is not a band you can simply listen to once if you have any hope of understanding the message in the songs. Every track is produced in such a way that the vocals move through the mix and get dirtied throughout the process. Songs like Rose Colored Glasses and Egophoria are incredibly interesting, but they will take a couple of listens and focused attention to understand the message.
The final song Delta Wave was the ugly duckling of the bunch, thankfully it was not placed smack dab in the middle of all the other great songs. The song is for lack of a better word, a drag. It come off messy, uninspired and too lazy to take seriously at all.
In conclusion, Color In The Gray Machine is well worth your attention if you have an open mind for new music. It has great moments woven throughout, and although it is by no means a perfect album or an instant classic, it does remind us of the importance of staying unique and true to your own creative vision, and for that reason alone I hope you give this album a spin.
7/10
