Mutesite is a mostly instrumental rock band from Petaling Jaya, Malaysia. Vocals are used sparingly and mostly in the form of background "oh" fills. There is only one song with lyrics, track six "Broken Clouds."
The first track "Hearts and Flowers" Starts out with a full orchestral sound, pizzicato plucked strings are heard, bringing a warm sensation to the mix, a few start-stops introduce a noodley guitar riff, then a synth peeks in alongside vocal fill harmonies. When I can't tell if a song is post rock or jazz, it's just a good feeling to me. This band defies being pigeonholed into one genre.
The math rock aspect of this band lies within in the noodley guitar lines from what I've heard so far. Alongside a couple metric modulations these two things alone I wouldn't say is enough to qualify as straight up math rock, but the overall rhythmic complexity does count for something. The second song "Tabula Rosa" certainly displays lots of noodley guitar lines while being an upbeat smooth jazz song for the most part.
The third song "Hooey" is the most math rock song on the album so far, with super noodley guitar riffs, stop-start action and progressive drumming displaying unexpected time signature changes I am already in love with this song. Piano lines as bright as the sun beam in and then a psychedelic guitar/bass line comes in and funks everything up. This band has the kind of sound a 50's era born father and a millennial son can both bond over, with just enough respect for the institution of jazz and progressive rock combined with the boldness and creativity executed in modern prog and math rock acts there is enough for everyone to appreciate.
"Giselle"
Starts out with a beautiful ethereal feeling as the piano and guitar sing together making poly rhythms and stop start motifs. Joined by bells chiming the plot thickens as a delayed guitar line washes over everything. Background vocals come in and take over alongside a set of super twinkly bar chimes.
"Maruko Poro" is another super mathy song on this album. I could see this song becoming a hit. It's short and sweet and the vocals at the end could be used in any catchy advertising campaign.
"p.o.v." has an incredibly catchy hook part starting at 2:11. This song is already so catchy, this just adds that extra kick to it.
Here's the video to the final track "Esiotrot"
Overall if you like upbeat post rock with hella nods to jazz music and a math rock edge do not skip this album as it will become one of your favorites. -M Chan
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