As a rule of thumb, one might say, the dreamier the music, the more effect it can have on the listener, the more feelings it can instill, the more images it can conjure, the more everything. Brooklyn quintet The Mells push for every possible avenue of the unconscious on their debut single, “McCallister,” a lead-up little taste for a mini-album to come. The opening chord, held out for just a tantalizing second, is so laden with chorus and reverb it makes your mouth water. The bass glides in, oozy and bright, and the ensuing cloudburst of sound reaches near synesthetic levels, an unstoppable pop rhythm MEL(L)ting the concrete world around you.
The introduction of this insanely fun synth tone, almost like a child’s slide whistle, sends you rocketing to another planet, another dimension. The portal it opens is a technicolor waterslide, a drippy creamsicle on a hot summer day, a fantastical transition from realism to cartoon. It does so much, it’s all so surreal, until Lyzi Wakefield’s vocals ground the dreamer, a beautifully soothing bedside awakening, introducing you to the band, as she notes, “It’s the taste of things to come.” There’s nothing nightmarish in this. It’s a much needed breath of fresh hope in dark times, and we look forward to hearing more.
