Mojave 3 – Out Of Tune

Label: 4AD Records

Mojave 3 is really the incarnation of the early 90’s shoe gazing luminaries Slowdive. After being dropped by the more straightforward rock inspired Creation Records, the band was quickly signed to the much more appropriate ethereal originator 4AD label. Since then Mojave 3 has been putting out the finest work of their career, and 4AD has their strongest current artist after beginning to intentionally stray away from their trademark ethereal sound.

Like a soundtrack to a romanticized southwestern dream, singer-songwriter Neil Halstead’s, “Out Of Tune” is a gentle fusion of Nick Drake-like vocals mixed with the hazy western twang of Mazzy Star. Not that there are any standard “pop” songs on “Out of Tune,” but the gentle vocals of British sophisticate Halstead and the flowing basswork and vocals of Rachel Goswell create a real full blown album of songs meant to be heard back to back.

Opening with the stellar “Who Do You Love” which begins the album with a gentle upbeat number, and carrying through “Give What You Take” and “Some Kinda Angel” the album reeks with that sexy dusty swagger that’s been most recently replaced by electronic ballads.

There’s not much else one can say about an album like this except that it’s a wonderfully reflective album more suitable to casual reflection or romantic mood making than it is nightclub dance-floors or psyche tape music. It’s a record to fall into or out of love to, and the kind of album that merely carries you into that lightly upbeat place where the world just seems easier and somehow more transparent.