Reverie (n): 1. A state of being pleasantly lost in one’s thoughts; a daydream
2. An instrumental piece suggesting a dreamy or musing state
…and a state of dreamy instrumental pieces is exactly what the listener will get when listening to this collaboration that comes to us all the way from Pakistan (how cool is that?!). 6LA8 & MMI’s first non-jammy, structured release exists in the plain of mellow introspection, combining soft pads and very laid back guitar lines with subtle glitched beats to engulf the listener in waves of blissful reverb.
The influence of bands like Hammock, Lights Out Asia and epic45 can be easily pointed out in their music but 6LA8 and MMI are not too derivative or overly reliant on their influences to be dismissed as ‘yet another ambient post-rock band’. Songs like “Long Way Ahead, Longer Way Back” with its beautifully serene reversed guitars and “Something Special” which relies heavily on Eastern percussion (Tabla) are strong testaments to their successful stabs at originality. However, the clear standout is most definitely their collaboration with a third Pakistani artist Asfandyar Khan and it is the more aggressive beats on “Breathless” elevates the music from something that most likely will settle in the background after a while to another that tells a bold statement and demands the listeners’ full attention.
Of course there is still room for improvement, the mixing and mastering for example should allow all instruments to coalesce better in the mix and produce a more coherent output. They could also allow themselves to experiment a bit more with their sound thus making it tougher for their prospective listeners to leave their music to drift in and out of their consciousness. But these are solvable issues – it is their obvious potential that will make their upcoming releases something well worth waiting for. (Mohammed Ashraf)
a closer listen 