Eyedress — Mulholland Drive — Album Review
Electronic | Indie
Listen on Spotify | Listen on Apple Music
The musical project of Filipino singer-songwriter Idris Vicuña, known as Eyedress, was one that I was fortunate enough to have discovered last year, through the warm and vibrant sound of their third studio album, 2020’s Let’s Skip to the Wedding. There was something that was so familiarly soothing about that record, all while adding a uniquely quirky layer on top of the whole thing. As a result, I eagerly kept my eyes peeled for whatever was coming next from Eyedress.
That time arrived earlier this year, as a new album cycle in 2021 began being teased. The first sign of a new album came in the form of the single “Something About You”. Right off the bat, this track carried through all of the bright and sunny Eyedress-ism’s, while displaying a slightly more refined polished. With that, and a few other teasers following closely behind, Mulholland Drive, was shaping up to be quite the exciting listen.
The time had finally arrived to listen to the fourth studio album in full this week just gone. And while there has been quite the backlog of albums to sink my teeth into, Mulholland Drive was no exception when it comes to albums that I had been anticipating.
Kicking things off with a mellow but super atmospheric title track, this album brought through a slightly more autumnal feel in my opinion. And pairing this with the time that this album has been released, and the level of musical immersion this album offers is well and truly there.
Much like Let’s Skip to the Wedding, Mulholland Drive carries a mixture of tracks, that are either light-hearted and bright, or extremely gritty and gloomy. And while I feel that the ebb and flow between the two moods was executed to a greater degree with the narrative of the previous album, Mulholland Drive still manages to strike a decent enough balance when using this musical duality.
As well as this, the album also manages to throw a little bit more into the mix stylistically. We have the inclusion of more indie rap focused tunes such as “Keep It Real With You” and “Prada”, the unmistakably retro-electronic sound of “Brain Dead”, and even a King Krule produced track in the form of “Chad an Gordy”. This makes for an even more diverse addition than Let’s Skip to the Wedding, while only sacrificing a bit of narrative consistency.
Right now however, if I was forced to choose whether I prefer this album and the one that came before it, Let’s Skip to the Wedding would still just about come off on top. I feel that it is possibly just the stronger narrative and more summery feel that this album carried. But who knows, perhaps this album will grow on me even more in due time. It certainly has the potential to do so.
Needless to say, Mulholland Drive is still a very solid effort, and yet another candidate for showing how talented and innovative Eyedress is as an indie artist.
Favourite Tracks: Mulholland Drive | Something About You | Brain Dead
Least Favourite Track: Fulfil the Dream
Lex Records
Enjoyment: 8/10 | Memorability: 7/10 | Atmosphere: 8/10
Uniqueness: 8/10 | Satisfaction: 7/10 | Narrative: 7/10
