Alfie Templeman — Mellow Moon — Album Review
Alternative | Singer-Songwriter | Electronic | Indie | Pop
Listen on Spotify | Listen on Apple Music
For those who haven’t yet heard of Alfie Templeman just yet, it’s fair to say that you owe it to yourself to listen to his incredible musical work. Giving off the clear vibes of an exciting upcomer when I discovered the now 19 year old Bedfordshire singer-songwriter back in 2019 with his 7 song EP Don’t Go Wasting Time, he has only improved rapidly since then.
On top of that, Templeman has remained consistent with his release schedule, by blessing listeners with one project per year since. In 2020, it was another EP. Titled Happiness in Liquid Form, the sunny and vibrant atmosphere of said project was perfectly time for the month of July in which it was brought out. It was this bright and sunny atmosphere that Alfie Templeman began to capitalise on more and more, fusing said vibe with his dreamy and reverberated guitar playing.
And this truly came into fruition with Templeman’s project last year, titled Forever Isn’t Long Enough. Whether this is technically classed as an EP or his debut album is kind of up for debate. And while Alfie has seemingly stated otherwise, I feel that Forever Isn’t Long Enough was certainly good enough to be amongst my favourite albums of that year, and initially score a full 10/10, that it certainly felt at home as an album.
But what we were blessed with this year, is dubbed by Templeman as what truly is his debut album. Enter; Mellow Moon.
Bringing forward a true album presence, Mellow Moon boasts a total of 14 tracks, far more than any other one of his projects. And while Alfie Templeman didn’t need to prove himself that much to me personally at all, it definitely feels like this album was made with the sole purpose of finally breaking Templeman out into the big time.
Mellow Moon was first teased by the single “3D Feelings”, a track that felt stylistically appropriate when you consider it wasn’t far behind the release of Forever Isn’t Long Enough. However, it still gives off more of an accessible feel; one that packs all of Templeman’s uniqueness. In short, it felt like Mellow Moon was going to be exactly the kind of album the artist clearly wanted it to be.
The hype only continued to grow with subsequent teaser releases that arrived earlier this year. “Broken” musically feels like what Coldplay’s “Adventure of a Lifetime” was trying to be. And as for tracks like “Leaving Today” and “Colour Me Blue”, they felt like vas improvements upon similar tracks that can be found on Templeman’s 2019 and 2020 EPs.
While, in terms of narrative, this album doesn’t have as much to chew on as the likes of Forever Isn’t Long Enough, Mellow Moon does still offer an uplifting dose of relatability when it comes to the topics of self doubt and the emotional struggles of modern life. But i was clearly most excited for all of the sonic goodness that was seemingly ready to burst from this project; which had been done near-faultlessly.
Of course, there are a select few tracks on here (and I mean very few) that come off as a bit more underwhelming (and perhaps a bit too accessible for their own good). But when you consider how much there is to unpack from Mellow Moon, in comparison to previous instalments, these few tracks were too small of a blemish to really keep me from thoroughly enjoying this album.
Mellow Moon is yet another reason to listen to Alfie Templeman this instant, if you haven’t been already. And especially with the summer days just around the corner, it couldn’t be a more perfect time to indulge yourself with all of the vibrance and colour that this album jam-packs.
Favourite Tracks: Broken | Candyfloss | Gravity | Mellow Moon
Least Favourite Track: Do It
Chess Club Records | AWAL Recordings
