Mandolin – same feeling, different font
Rising Texas-born R&B starlet Mandolin unleashes her debut album, same feeling, different font.
Exploring the edges of R&B, progressive soul, and alternative as deep-rooted emotions and intimate storytelling shine through, same feeling, different font retains Mandolin’s power-packed vocals and warm, vintage approach to production while firmly launching her incendiary artistry to blazing new heights.
A journey of love, lust, longing, and desire, the entirely self-produced record emerges as an introspective mapping of heartbreak and isolation – each track capturing the loss and dissolution of love through different sonic backdrops. Breaking through sleek, tender soundscapes, Mandolin reflects on the toxic memories and influences that have left her reality in turmoil, confronting the affliction with honest, vulnerable dialogue to grow and understand who she is and who she has yet to become.
The album’s opening interlude, “broken” delivers a gripping showcase of the potency and depth Mandolin has to offer as a songwriter and force in R&B. The rising vocalist questions fragile affirmations while pleading for something real – “say that shit again so I can be sure that you love me,” Mandolin chants before affirming her suspicions with “Blue Lies.” Bursting with dream-like melodies and live instrumentation, the standout cut opens space for a stream of addictive offerings, including the indie roller “HEAD! (Want You Now),” the hazy slow jam “Party Girl,” and the soft tension of “I like it when you beg” – all receiving smoky, textured melodic work from her guitarist, Christian Magden.
Manoeuvring through swaying, stripped-back freestyles like “drrunk/for the girls” and “cigarettes but I don’t smoke,” Mandolin’s starry arrangements and undeniable lyrical focus flourish, before “Self Doubt” and “Closing Time” conclude the record in a state of growth and self-realisation. The closing track’s hypnotic melody repeats the phrase, “tell you that it’s okay,” adding bittersweet undertones as her voice rises with newfound clarity, reshaping heartbreak into strength and resolve.
A skilled songwriter and performer, Mandolin’s raw and hazy artistry is a product of her sonic environment. Immediately inspired by legendary US artists including Bill Withers, James Brown, Ray Charles and Etta James, before crossing the Atlantic to north London icon Amy Winehouse, the rising talent combines a wealth of material to create her own smooth and melodic sound, elevated by her sun-kissed vocals and self-reliance alongside warm, retro-fitted vibrations.
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