by David Wilikofsky
Mong Tong 夢東 are Hom Yu and Jiun Chi, two Taiwanese siblings currently living in Taipei. They’re involved with a bunch of other musical projects (Prairie WWWW, Fogbow, and Dope Purple are a few), but Mystery 秘神 marks their debut album as Mong Tong 夢東. Released by the great Guruguru Brain, it’s an intoxicating mix of electronics and sound collage with some paranoia sprinkled in for good measure.
The band has described this album as “a psychedelic journey to the East”. Typically I’m turned off as soon as I see the word psychedelic used to describe an album. Too often it feels like shorthand for bloated and overwrought music that won’t have much emotional resonance, but when describing Mystery 秘神 psychedelic feels apt in the best sense. Psychedelic music should take you on a journey, and the eight mostly instrumental compositions on this album are a rich and fascinating world unto themselves filled with slinking baselines and swirling synths. Samples are subtly woven in; anything from a sword being unsheathed to a sudden onslaught of words might be around the corner.
The band members have a stated interest in Taiwanese occult and conspiracy theories, and the music does have a paranoid edge to it. “Chakra”, the lead single, features a slightly groovy baseline and a voiceover from a reporter taking about the connection between Hinduism and UFOs. “Ancient Mars”, another highlight, feels especially suffuse with dread. It lopes along slowly, unfurling with flashes of synth, bells. and a deep inhalation. The use of space on these tracks and throughout the album adds to the atmosphere; the band isn’t afraid to let sounds linger, allowing them to fully vanish before moving forward. It gives the album as a whole more dimension, allowing you to be fully sucked into the space the band creates.
Much like Kate NV’s recent album that we discussed here last week, the great strength of this album is in its world building ability. Whereas Kate built immaculate miniature pop universes, Mong Tong 夢東 have given a glimpse into a paranoid alternate dimension where things go bump in the night. It’s a record well worth your time to get lost inside.