Mild High Club: Skiptracing Review

By Sawyer Stull
Music Jouranlist

Artist: Mild High Club
Album: Skiptracing
Release Date: August 26, 2016
Website: mildhighclub

Mild High Club is the solo project from Los Angeles based recording artist Alexander Brettin. Skiptracing is his sophomore follow up to his 2015 debut Timeline. Much has improved in terms of shaping of the creative aspects and finding his voice within in his work.  The album has a very 70s psychedelic jazz noir vibe which Brettin describes the new work as “like a private investigator attempting to trace the steps of the sound and the spirit of American music.”

The album starts out with the self-title track “Skiptracing” that has a warm carefree
summer feeling that is a very inviting start to the album. Single chord strums ring throughout that lead up to an almost samba -esque chorus. This leads oneself to picture themselves splayed out on a beach in another place in time. The third track of the album “Cary Me Back”  is something out of a 70s psychedelic prom. You can’t help but feel the need to sway back and forth as the track slowly unwinds, almost causing oneself to slip into a trance.

My personal favorite track from the album is the fourth track “Tesselation” which sounds like something you would expect to hear in an elevator, due to the warm jazzy keys throughout. The song is filled with many-polished jazz guitar riffs accompanied by a very smooth drumbeat. One of the last tracks on the album “Chapel Perilous” feels like an appropriate close to the album blending all of the sounds from the prior songs. The keys and a twangy twelve-string guitar with a jazzy drumbeat once again lead the track. As the track progresses it feels to almost fall to pieces with the drippy vocal effects on the track.

Needless to say Brettin has progressed very far in the span of a year from his last album. Once the album ends you will find yourself wanting to immediately start the album back from the top and enjoy the ride again. This album is absolutely perfect for anybody that is a fan of Mac Demarco or Ariel Pink. Be sure to give Mild High Club a listen on Spotify or any of the other streaming services and give them a follow on Twitter.