Currently based in London, the members that make up Mt. Wolf originate from the less cosmopolitan locales of Brighton, Dorset and Guernsey. In person their lives have been shaped by both urban and rural environments, and this is something that comes across (intentionally or otherwise) on their debut EP 'Life Size Ghosts'. It's almost as though this quartet have taken the most current alternative music trends and merged them into one, making this a record that couldn't be more 'now' unless it came with a Diplo remix and a guest appearance from Pitbull. We're not looking at commercial sounds though, this has a resolutely underground feel. Loosely falling into the folktronica bracket, 'Life Size Ghosts' is a collection that mixes dreampop, Balearic beats, folk, dubstep, trip-hop and electronica. It's a handy summation of the UK's current left-field music scenes.
As expected, lead track 'Life Size Ghosts' wins the best in show award despite the dubious logic of its title. What size would you expect a ghost to be? Still, a soft, dubby beat underlines a guitar that's picked as delicately as is humanly possible while otherworldly vocals swoon, swish and swoop over the top, themselves sounding beautifully ghostly. 'Cry Wolf' pushes the production more towards a modern trip-hop vibe and subsequently the mood of the EP changes. Suddenly those ethereal vocals are more alert and powerful. There's an ambient touch to it, but not to the point that it dissolves into a directionless soundscape. The seven-minute 'Starliner' is a melting pot of beats, chopped-up vocals and twinkling atmospherics. All in all this is an accomplished debut and Mt Wolf could happily be filed alongside The xx.
Mt. Wolf's website
Stream the EP in full
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