Mosa had me at minute zero of the first track on this record. The staccato, futuristic opening vocals fused onto the backing beats aren’t really what you’d expect from a traditional indie rock record, but Mosa is anything but traditional. He’s keenly experimental, unafraid to go above and beyond boundaries of the genre to create the perfect mood for each track. And thus, on his ten track record ‘Ruminations & Adaptations’, the Oxford based British artist is able to try something wholly new, for a wholly different feeling on each piece.
Described as an album that serves as a travelogue for what it means to be human, Mosa explores a myriad of themes. The album delves into love, desire, despair, passion, embracing negativity, absence, time, arrivals, departures, hesitance, grey areas and dualities.
On ‘Shut Off/Shut Down’, the energy is eccentric, almost cacophonic at moments. The song is an ideal opener, thrusting you into the album without any breaks. But immediately after, on ‘Empty Vessel’, Mosa reveals the depth of his voice, far more pained, loaded with anguish, and with a much more melancholic backdrop. The ability to shift so seamlessly is what makes Ruminations & Adaptations a unique record to explore.
But it’s on track five where I feel the album truly hits a new gear and Mosa’s diverse talent is explored. Starting with a seemingly sullen violin/string intro, the tune quickly shifts into an almost EDM inspired fast paced and pulsating beat. It builds, and builds more, culminating into a chorus that has you yelling from the top of your lungs. That electronic experimentation hits a new high on the follow up track, ‘Next Words’. The near seven minute long takes a while to get going, but when it does, it doesn’t relent. Mosa’s ominous ‘choose your next words carefully’ and ‘wake up’ deliveries kick it into overdrive before the lightning paced synths start to elevate the song to the next level.
I love musicians who are able to bring electronic sounds into more traditional rock and folk, and Mosa has proven himself to be a verified expert at the same. Boasting an intelligence for artistry, song-writing, and composition on par with a Justin Vernon esque figure, I simply can’t wait to hear more from this truly eclectic, eccentric, and exciting star.
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