Mushy at Rough Trade East

Italian singer, Mushy (Valentina Fanigliulo) is a female shoegaze artist. Promoting her new album, Breathless, she regaled us with her dulcet tones at Rough Trade East, a stage set up at the back of the room to a crowd of shoppers and fans.

The set she played indicates how different this new album is going to be from her last outing, Faded Heart. The music is a solid, droning combination of analog drum machine synths and her signature vocal style.

The music turns from shoegaze to a more dream-pop sound with Faded Heart, with the unearthly whispered chanting of Valentina’s voice nearer the forefront of the music than previously, rendering it more marketable. With a greater melodic and vocal presence to the sound, it becomes a better entry point than say Spacemen 3 or Spiritualized, and is much more likely to be taken up by those inexperienced with the genre. The sound can be readily compared with Kraftwerk or Cocteau Twins.

Sifting through records and CDs while the band played on the stage at the back of the store, the experience was pleasant (if perhaps not ideal in the context of a concert ostensibly promoting another record). The staff could have been more helpful and accommodating – they were a little bit terse at times, but maybe they didn’t enjoy the interruption to their day.

A deeply immersive, retro, beautiful sound that wraps you up in a wall of droning sound, resulting in rhythmic blanket of warmth and at times darkness, Mushy is a wonderful accompaniment to a walk in the rain or a trawl around a record store.

Verdict: ••••

Andrew Collins

For further information about Mushy and future events visit here.