Despite the somewhat paradoxical pairing of an artist with the moniker Mope. with a track titled Wanderer, the dissonance fades swiftly, swallowed by the entrancing psychotropic waves of the production.
Wanderer traverses through the sonic landscape with a fluidity that justifies its title, enveloping listeners in a deliciously distorted Shoegaze embrace. The track’s structure is a hypnotic hybrid, part leftfield electronica with its syncopated rhythms and part psych pop fever dream, observed through a kaleidoscopic lens. You don’t just listen to Wanderer—you sink, letting the warm, luminous tides of sound wash over you. The commanding, semi-lucid vocals flow like an undercurrent, pulling you deeper into the aural odyssey few can rival.
The genesis of Mope.’s journey is profoundly personal. Following the loss of his father and the bleak dawn of the COVID-19 pandemic, Brad Steed transformed his grief into art, resulting in the creation of his debut album, An Optimist’s Guide to Self-Destruction.
The album, replete with reflections on his journey from sorrow to fleeting moments of peace, offers a psychotropic escape into love, loss, and electric currents. Created in the quiet corners of Raleigh, North Carolina, each song bears Steed’s intimate touch—written, recorded, mixed, and mastered by the artist himself.
Wanderer will be available to stream on all major platforms, including YouTube, from August 16th.
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Review by Amelia Vandergast