reviewed by Kaitlin Ruether
There is a picture on Mango Reinhardt’s Instagram that features a surfer on a sprawling beach at night, with the aurora borealis stretching its fingers of light across the sky. Not only does this image, attributed to Chris Burkard, connect with Mango Reinhardt’s latest EP title, Night Glow, but it strikes on the complexion that the band takes on: the crisp and surfy guitar lines that play up the hooks and the ephemeral vocals of Emily Copeland that create a sense of dreamy light.
What stands out about Mango Reinhardt is their ability to bring two popular genres of indie music together in unexpected ways. “Silhouette” and “Woke Up in a Dream” interact with each other through differences. The groove and occasional crystalline bite of “Silhouette”’s “surf noir” melody is countered with the rhythmic strides and low vocals of “Woke Up in a Dream”, which find more melancholy content: “I woke up in a dream, woke up wanting you.”
Amid all this balance, the tension of the album lies in the final track. “And there’s no way back,” “Ghost Walk” begins, opening with a conjunction as though we have missed something important. The guitar holds a sense of anxiety even when it feels chirpy, and the layering of vocals are honest and, momentarily at the end, pained.
Night Glow is Mango Reinhardt’s second three-song EP, and my only complaint upon finishing was that I wish it were longer. There is enough versatility here to sustain an album — and I can’t wait until new tunes float out.
Top Track: “Ghost Walk”
Rating: Hunting Call (Excellent) + *swoop*