Music Review: Our Own House

This Tuesday, MisterWives released their first full-length album Our Own House to follow their 2014 EP Reflections, and it is a truly impressive debut. This album is riddled with gems, from standout singles “Our Own House” and “Reflections” to more subdued ballads like “Coffins” and “Oceans.” MisterWives covers the full gamut of moods, from breezy dance numbers to deeply felt melodies, and never misses a beat.

The five-piece band from New York City played its first show together in 2013 and was signed immediately thereafter (kudos to Photo Finish for that leap of faith), and it’s easy to see why. They were named MTV’s Artist to Watch of 2015, and a meteoric rise in popularity is surely just over the horizon. The group is appearing on lineups all over the summer music festival circuit, luckily including Duke's LDOC 2015, and will light up stages with their infectious energy.

I challenge you to listen to “Reflections” without dancing. It opens with lead singer Mandy Lee’s unusual and powerful voice to draw you in, followed by a thumping beat that explodes into serious indie pop hit material. Lee’s vocal range stretches to extremes with gorgeous ease; she belts out big notes with the intensity of Lauren Mayberry of CHVRCHES and the distinctiveness of Of Monsters and Men’s Nanna Hilmarsdóttir. Enthusiasm exudes from every facet of their sound, from bouncing percussion to tight bass to animated keyboard synth. Strings and horns make appearances too to give a layered and surprisingly mature dimension to such a young band.

“Our Own House,” the album’s first track, thoroughly charms with springy young love: “Came in like the breeze/ I felt it in my knees/never will it leave/each day it is retrieved.” Vintage, Capital Cities-esque trumpet throws the song into an exuberant carnival of sound and energy, a thread that they pick up and don’t drop throughout the record.

MisterWives explores a tried-and-true theme of the excitement and uncertainty of new relationships, but they make it fresh with honest lyrics and enchanting melodies. “Oceans” asks “Can we stay forever like this?” over a slowed-down, reggae beat. “Coffins” dips deeper still into the territory of pathos and insecurity, which Lee pulls off with surprising and genuine sincerity.

Tracks like “No Need for Dreaming” and “Imagination Infatuation” exemplify the best trends of festival indie pop with none of the trite lyrics or overused hooks. To find an original niche in this genre is no easy task, and MisterWives achieves that by straddling folk pop and indie rock, while not confining themselves to either.

Our Own House is fun, upbeat, relatable and a joy to jam out to from start to finish. MisterWives is about to blow the lid off indie pop, poised to do so with a stellar debut album. They’re likely to be even more fun live, so my hat is off to the 2015 LDOC committee for snagging these über-talented up-and-comers.