Staff Reviews

Totally Mild - Her

Review by Lee Adcock

Her hides its most crippling blows behind a sleek frame, supple and shiny like a lovingly restored convertible»

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Chapter is thrilled to be releasing Her, the second album by Melbourne lush pop quartet Totally Mild. Following on from their acclaimed 2015 debut Down Time (released on Bedroom Suck in Australia, Fire Records in the UK), Her is a shining jewel of an album. Elizabeth Mitchell’s voice is a thing of unearthly beauty, capable of soaring and swooping in shiver-inducing ways. As a songwriter she is equally arresting, addressing desires and dreams with affecting frankness. In Totally Mild she is joined by guitar magician Zachary Schneider, drummer Ashley Bundang and bassist Lehmann Smith. In the last few years the band have developed a quasi-psychic intensity, surging forward or pulling back in seamless unison. This intensity has been captured in crystalline form by producer and one-time Architecture In Helsinki member James Cecil. Her is polished and spacious, while never losing the feeling of a band in full flight. Mood rises and falls expertly throughout the album: Working Like A Crow, originally written for a children’s choir, is simple in its self-sufficiency. From One Another is an eulogy for a toxic relationship given the most graceful pop setting. Mitchell’s love for piano balladry is showcased on Lucky Stars, while Today Tonight is kinetic, dynamic guitar pop at its finest.. Across their powerful, delicate, luminous second album Her, Totally Mild move through light and shade with silky finesse.
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