Sounds like…

What happens when an indie rock band discover a massive array of electronic instruments

The review

Although ‘Ten Seated Figures’ released in 2019, I’ve only just recently picked it up and so please excuse the tardiness of this review. Yes We Mystic’s second album, they create an indie rock sound but have a unique way of disguising their instruments so you don’t always know what is playing.

For instance, the anthemic rock track ‘Pathalassa’ has huge drums, guitars, strings, bass and keyboards. It also has weird vocal choirs, keyboards that sound like brass but aren’t and instruments that chew themselves up and spit other versions of themselves up. The guitar solo sounds more like a demonic theremin. Yet you feel like you understand all the instruments and their intent – and that is just one of the ten tracks.

The reason why I’ve fallen so deeply for this album is that each and every track evokes this feeling. A lot of it pulls back to song structures that feel like they could be folk songs or post-rock megaliths and they’ve been distilled into punchy four-minute blasts. Not a single track stands still either, they constantly evolve, dismantle and switch up their arrangements. Hearing ‘Vanitas Waltz’ embody both the psychotic and the bittersweet melodies and feels of a fairground ride is a great example of this. The transition between ethereal ballad to a soaring zip guitar solo in ‘Felsenmeer’ is inspired.

Maybe a reference would be helpful. There is a splash of Muse here if Muse took a more folk twist – or if Tunng decided to go full-blown Muse. Yes We Mystic feels to me where those two styles would meet in the middle. On one hand, you’ve got the symphonic and extravagant rock of single ‘Young Evil’ and ‘Bring Me To Safety’ or the rumbling percussive rock of ‘Italics’. On the other end, you’ve got the still electric but more spacious and contemplative ‘Last Known Sighting’ and ‘Un/Form’.

What is clear is that Yes We Mystic have absolutely found a sound that is all their own. Each track is rich and densely packed with emotion, production trickery and a vocalist who can hold his own whether soaring the clouds of a huge chorus or mining the depths quiet bridge. It has been a while since I discovered an indie band that ticked every box I was looking for but ‘Ten Seated Figures’ by Yes We Mystic certainly did that.

Recommended track: Please Bring Me To Safety

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