EP REVIEW: Josh Mullen – Lemon’de (8/23/19)
BEST TRACKS: Fine, Lemon’de
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Meet Josh Mullen, who is just now dipping his toes into the world of songwriting with his first EP, Lemon’de.
This 18-year-old grasshopper from Youngseville, NC is an unashamedly self-proclaimed indie boy who draws his inspiration from the likes of Mac Demarco and Neutral Milk Hotel, which is evident in this EP by the mellow vocals and dominant use of acoustic guitar. Mullen admits to recording this entire EP in his bedroom using Audacity, but to be fair, who doesn’t record their first EP on either Audacity or Garageband? Despite not having the greatest means of production, for a first EP, it’s pretty good.
The song “Fine” kicks off the EP and immediately blasts you into the 5th dimension of consciousness with high energy strumming and a nicely complimenting bassline. The vocals are easily the most impressive part of this song. Mullen’s voice is soft but not completely mushy, carrying a pleasant amount of grit and intensity while still remaining soothing to the ears. The heavily reverberating vocals will penetrate their way into the center of your brain and settle down there. The reverberating, softly warped vocals make their appearance again on “Brown Recluse” and ‘Punch”.
Another highlight of this EP is the title track “Lemon’de”. For this lighthearted number, Mullen sets aside the guitar and picks up a sweet little ukulele. I feel like I’m in the Curious George universe when I’m listening to this song, dreamily floating down a river in a rowboat on a sunny day. Eating a banana. This song will ‘whistle’ your worries away.
Josh Mullen is a talented guitarist and vocalist with a lot of potential. Josh Mullen, if you’re reading this, keep making music! Everyone starts somewhere. Thank you for being a fan of WKNC and I hope to see you making waves in the future.
You can listen to Lemon’de on soundcloud here: https://soundcloud.com/skippysgotmail/sets/lemonde-ep
-Safia Rizwan