The Mowgli’s – Waiting For The Dawn

Artist: The Mowgli’s
Album: Waiting For The Dawn
Released: June 18th 2013
Label:  Photo Finish Records/Island Records
Website: themowglis.net

The Mowgli’s describe themselves as “…8 friends from Los Angeles who are making music with love, and making love with music.” This band does just that, make music with love. The Mowgli’s are a rare sight in music. The whole purpose behind their music is to spread a gospel of love and peace. They even started a cool campaign called the “Be A Mowgli” campaign. The Mowgli’s have poster’s all over downtown L.A. and across the rest of the country that ask “Are You a Mowgli?” and then gives you a number to call and find out.. or a website to go to and both will tell you what it means to be a Mowgli, which is someone who does random acts of kindness. They believe that by performing these random acts of kindness and being kind to one another, we have the power to change the world. The eight people that make up this band are: Michael Vincze, Colin Dieden, Katie Jayne Earl, Matthew Di Panni, Josh Hogan, Dave Appelbaum, Spencer Trent, and Andy Warren.

Waiting For The Dawn is the musical depiction of universal love. This band’s label debut is filled with songs that’ll bring a smile to your face and have you feeling all happy and warm inside. The band’s collective sound is something that makes the album special, most of the songs are sung on together by all 8 members. The album’s main single, “San Francisco” is a catchy and infectious tune that describes what love is all about which has use of the interesting instrument, the melodica, by Spencer Trent, has some killer drumming by Andy Warren, and a grooving bass line by bassist Matthew Di Panni. The other standouts from the album include “Slowly Slowly,” a fun and lyrically driven song, where singer and guitarist Colin Dieden tells you: “It’s only you, it’s only me, it’s only love and it’s only fair that you find your peace.” “Time,” a beautiful acoustic song about life and time written mainly by and sung mainly by frontman Michael Vincze, “The Great Divide,” which has catchy synth played in the background by keyboardist Dave Appelbaum who plays guitar on the track “ Carry Your Will”, “Love is Easy” which really feels like a summing up of understanding of love sung mainly by Josh Hogan. “Hi, Hey There, Hello,” which is a cute and fun song that makes you want to dance and is accompanied by the beautiful voice of Katie Jayne Earl. Take a listen to this beautiful album and see if it has you losing your head in San Francisco and falling in love with The Mowgli’s.

Reviewed by Sam Ramsey