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Monday 17 April 2023

Monday's Long Song

The newest release on Mighty Force is by a duo named M- Paths, the latest in a line of impressive albums coming out on the Exeter label. Marcus Farley and Nick Murray met at school and came together through backgrounds in DJing and drumming and have pooled their experiences and influences- chill out rooms in early 90s clubs and the meditative ambient/ indie of the 4AD bands. One of the tracks on Hope is titled M- Paths By Name, Empaths By Nature- as well as this and the names of some of the other songs (Grow, Calm, The Connection, The Path, Autumn's Safe Haven) the music, ambient techno and warm electronica, feels like it is facing the sun after a long winter. M- Paths want to feel connected to nature and to people and the thirteen tracks on Hope all point in an optimistic direction.

Grow (Part Two) is a perfect example of what can be found on Hope- shimmering, colourful synths, pulsebeat drums and sparkling melodic toplines, unfolding over seven minutes. Natural feeling ambient techno, full of warmth and and done with a real lightness of touch. 

The last track on Hope, The Colour Of The Trees, is another long one, clocking in at over eight minutes, and worth giving the time to fully. It starts out slowly with what sounds like a deep exhalation of breath. Repeating synth lines work their way in with some piano, running water and rumbles of distant thunder, building gradually, the rippling melodies circling over the backdrop of found sounds, birds and rain. Hope can be bought/ listened to at Bandcamp

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