3 out of 5

Label: ? (digital release)

Produced by: ?

When Mellowdrone ramped down after the powerful Angry Bear in 2009, it wasn’t surprising that frontman Jonathan Bates’ next project – Big Black Delta – would carry forward a lot of his previous band’s energy: big guitars; sing-song vocals; heavy beats. BBD, as a solo affair, tended to focus on a more digital sound overall, and as things went along, the project pushed and pulled at its formula towards more ambience, and more synths, and ultimately – in my mind – becoming a very glam, blown out version of Mellowdrone’s indulgences. (This is not necessarily a bad thing; BBD can be cringe but I’ve really enjoyed their releases.)

When Mellowdrone was ushered, albeit temporarily, back into existence for some singles / EPs in 2018, it thus wasn’t surprising to find carryover from the BBD sound. Unfortunately, I’m not sure it translated in the same positive way as it did when going the other direction, as this second post-reformation release sounds more like Bates trying to shrink his persona back into a Mellowdrone box; it mimics early MD sounds (specifically Intellectual Property era) but is affected by some of the surface gloss of Delta, making the emotions kind of a mismatch with the otherwise appealing melodies. To be clear, that makes these, at worst, B-tier Mellowdrone tracks, which is not a horrible existence, but it is one that marks this as bandmates running through familiar steps versus feeling inspired.

Let It Out is closer to early BBD material, but the band curbed the big beat sound, favoring Mellowdrone rhythms meshed with 80s Depeche Mode-y synths. When some of the harmonies kick in later on, you do get that old school MD thrill. …Which is more fully carried over into Pascal’s Wager, which has a pretty wicked main riff, and Bates’ lovely up-and-down vocal line; just, again, it’s in a realm of “I’ve kind of heard this song before.” Closer I Forgive You is downtempo, nigh-groove; this would / could be an interesting realm for the band to have explored more, and if included on a fuller album, I can see this as being a stronger conclusion. As is, though, 3’s offerings are worthwhile, for sure, but also feel like playing it safe – not quite hitting the emotive highs that I think caught most Mellowdrone fans back in the day.