EP REVIEW: Mandaue Nights - Love City
Outside Metro Manila, there have been many more acts that i can recommend more than my entire fingers on my hand can count. There isn't a "shortage" nor there isn't a "scarce" amount of acts outside the Metro as some of you assume and conclude without actually searching for on the internet. There are acts that are actually great to hear despite their location sets them apart from their hometown to the nation's capital. This "Metro Only" mentality must stop and Cebu's very own synthpop duo Mandaue Nights are here to prove that they can create songs that aren't falling under the guise of "We understand it, we like it". Mandaue Nights are without a doubt one of my favorite synthpop outfits to ever come out today. Recently they did a Metro Manila tour a month ago, traveled across different regions of the country to share their 80's centric New Wave-influenced music, and have released a brand new EP titled "Love City".
Love City starts off with the first track and their debut single titled "You & I". I already discussed back in the blog for how amazing this track sounds. The bright synths traveling across the track, the simplicity that rains down on Mandaue Nights's surprisingly exciting instrumentals. "Turn Back Time", their second track, is a slow-dance like track for you and significant other. It screams "prom music" all over and "Turn Back Time" immediately translates to what it feels like you want to, well, go back in time when you and your partner are having a moment.
The third track and title track "Love City" is just this slow interlude with illuminating synths as it builds and transitions to the next track, "First Kiss" This lead single of theirs has a solid rhythm and a catchy melody to it. "First Kiss" is young romance all captured in one song.
The last two songs "Take Me" and "Supersonic Love" are somewhat the best cuts off of this EP. "Take Me" pay homage to the latter half of the New Wave era with immersive vocals that range on high notes and a memorable chorus and a small feature by Cebu's pop duo Sepia Times which still helped give the tone of the track. "Supersonic Love" is a stylish love song that consistently brings a confident cut in this EP. In fact, most of the songs don't sound the same and that's a good thing. Synthpop is known for being flexible because the keyboard can make different layers of music sound distinct.
The highlights here in Love City that are "You & I" and "Take Me" (which are my favorite tracks off of this EP) which sounds like chart-topping singles three decades ago,making some of the tracks here strangely similar to bands like Fra Lippo Lippi, Duran Duran, and Phillip Oakley.
Mandaue Nights' Love City is more than just a nostalgia trip. It's an exhilarating EP that spans across different decades of pop and successfully lets their true blue synthpop sit tight; both style and substance-wise. "Love City" is a record that defines the music's originated timeline and it time travels to the present, making this record ultimately stand out in the large crop of modern day pop music.