Band: Mesa Luna
Album: Lash
Label: Afterlife Music ltd.
Website: https://mesaluna.bandcamp.com/
When I listened through, Lash, the debut album by Mesa Luna, I fell in love. It has pretty much everything that I need to be obsessed with an album. Lash is the perfect union of chillwave and shoegaze. The lyrics are relatable and impactful in such a soul-crushing way it will skyrocket you to the love you lost when your heart had never been shattered so badly.
Mesa Luna is a duo from Vancouver, BC consisting of Justice McLellan and Jason Corbett. This album has a central theme of trauma and definitely feels at points like you’re reading over their shoulders while he writes a deep and thoughtful journal entry.
Like every great shoegaze album, Lust, has great hooks throughout both lyrically and instrumentally. This is one of those albums that is psychologically soothing on a few different levels. Beyond it being a very pretty and listenable album, it delivers on what’s expected out of each song without being predictable. It’s definably interesting without being indigestible.
Some favorite tracks
Woronoco– This was one of the singles released right before the albums release, so you may have already heard this one. I love it! There isn’t much to not like about this somber breakup song. It’s blunt and beautiful as a story of empty promises and heartache unfolds. Though the message of the song is sad, the build-up and resolve is exciting. It kept me captivated the whole time.
Sarve– This song is absolutely gorgeous. It starts out really gentle with a soft guitar and keyboard creating a really warm atmospheric vibe. When the dual vocals kick in, it’s like they’re in an endless room. The beat is really relaxed, but still a head bopper.
Never Steady– This song is heartbreaking from the beginning. Though it starts out with a catchy beat and hypnotic synth, the lyrics spell out a sad scene of someone trying to move past something difficult. The builds in this song make your heart swell, but also leaves you feeling forlorn. Right when you think you get the flow of the song, all the instruments fade out and you can clearly hear what Justice is saying and it’s so god damn relatable. I would quote the line, but you just have to hear it yourself. When everything else kicks back in, it gave me goosebumps. This song stood out to me after listening to the whole album because it was one of the songs with less going on instrumentally, but still hit me just as hard as the walls of sound I’ve been expressing through this review.
I had a hard time writing this review because I found myself listening to this album over and over again finding new things that I loved and didn’t know how to explain. This album is definitely worth listening to if you’re into dream-pop, shoegaze, chillwave, or good music. I’d highly recommend if you like the artists: Jack Stauber, Primitive Radio Gods, and/or Youth Lagoon.