The Mojo Fins delivering diversity with Circa

Circa is the third album from Brighton-based band The Mojo Fins. Having been recorded in sunny South Wales earlier in 2013, the album has provided a boost in popularity for the band with singles such as “Introvert” receiving more and more airtime.

 

In fact The Mojo Fins have already been doing quite well as of late and found themselves as finalists in the Glastonbury Emerging Talent Contest, resulting in them performing on the Williams Green Stage.

 

 

It feels clichéd to call a group rockers, and initially the guitar driven opener, “Longwave Reach,” makes me want to call them a rock centric band but then their second song, “Exhale,” touches upon the electro-synth sounds you’d expect from a band like New Order.

 

With a catchy beat anchored in its bass-heavy synth melody it’s unsurprising that “Introverts” catapulted the band onto the radio scene. Having been favoured by DJs such as Frank Skinner, the song takes you into the desolate world of the introvert whilst the same melody remains rooted in the back-drop.

 

The album takes a more relaxing sway with “Catholic Guilt,” a more minor key and a step away from the synthesised sounds. We get a more a more acoustic sound making the song sound more emotive than its predecessors.

 

 

After an eight minute acoustic epic, The Mojo Fins seem to take us back to their adopted home sound with “Arterial Road.” I like acoustic songs but “Catholic Guilt” felt as though it found itself onto the wrong album where the synth-beat behind “Arterial Road” feels like a much-loved friend returning after a holiday.

 

Throughout the album one thing that stands out is the variety of musical types on display. Whilst there’s a definite theme to their overall sound it’s as though The Mojo Fins are ticking every musical box around their Indie-sounding genre. 

 

My personal highlight of the album comes in the form of “Grass.” A stronger more guitar-driven opening of the song seems to mellow out. I want to avoid calling it an easy-listening song with a rocky edge but I’m going to anyway – “Grass” is an easy listening song with a rocky edge. 

 

 

Having been recorded in the famous Rockfield studios and produced by Dave Eringa, it wouldn’t surprise me if we hear more from The Mojo Fins after Circa. Dealing with themes of love and loss, the album is definitely an enjoyable listen and seems to steer away from their old sound into a more mature musical style. 

 

The album closes with “Hands of Flashing Light,” a much darker song than the rest of the album, something that fits in with the ideas of loss, or maybe the band are reaching a different era of The Mojo Fins? 

 

A slightly euphoric song, “Hands of Flashing Light” still has the heavy-bass undertones that you would expect from the band but a minor key and deeper sound echoes throughout the piece. It seems to portray a close, maybe a love that has just departed? 

 

All-in-all I’d suggest giving Circa a listen to, I’m not quite sure that the album itself plays into one musical style, it keeps true to itself but it seems to evolve into something else as you progress track-by-track. This adds another dimension to the album and provides the listener that desire to come back.