ALBUM REVIEW: MOKUA - ENTROPY

After a heavy week of academics and constant cramming between the wee hours of the weekend morning, I finally decided to ease off my weekday stress by tuning into my chosen music platforms. I don’t read books that much nor do I watch TV, i find it a bit more distracting than normally checking my phone on what albums i should listen to next. October and November is stacked with new local releases and I just can’t pick a proper genre which would fit my mood.

One did actually catch my attention and it was a producer named Mokua, a electronic music project by producer Dominic Chua. I’ve heard of the guy’s music for quite some time, at first, I kinda thought he was only making music for elevators. Like no offense, I love ambient and/or coffee music when it comes to relaxing but I do most of the time love to hear that would challenge my hearing, just to see if this producer can actually produce something outside of his comfort zone. Mokua has released his debut full length titled “Entropy”.

Listening to the album, you got some analog synths and heavily influenced IDM beats. Mokua use these cinematic violin sections that make you feel like you’re watching a movie with the backing soundtrack. And before I go all in the tracks, let me put up a disclaimer that would roughly explain my part as a listener, this particular type of music isn’t new to me but what makes me appreciate this kind of music is how an electronic producer is able to keep the sound quality at a consistent pace. Like let’s say I am not that fluent in pointing out what are the subtle production choices nor I don’t want to sound like a smart ass when it comes to these mechanical sound engineering magic these guys are able to pull off in their laptops. But after some clueless review and outtakes one after the other and countless music pundit call outs and trial and error, I decided to look at these kinds of releases as a slope style. It if is prevalent than his other releases for instance, I would point some pros and cons. That plain and simple, or maybe complex if executed well.

Now, with that out of the way, the first track “Ganseblumchen”, was a great way to start the album. You have these back and forth chopped violin samples in between sections of 8-bit synths then it comes back to the beginning with these vocal choruses hanging at the back just to add that atmosphere. The second track “Private Apology”, is one of those tracks I didn’t really go crazy about. It’s just this rough distorted bass, nothing in my opinion would top a good opener. The third track “&AwayWeGo” is something that would be borrowed from a Boards of Canada track, it has this long echo in the background then the track builds up smoothly then as it progresses, the beats start to evolve into this really beautiful textures of drum kicks and hi-hats. The fourth track “NowThenForever” is somehow an interlude to the fifth track, “Sunshower (Ouch)”, a single that he released a while back. The synth choice here is really consistent, it sounds like Mokua never used the same synth preset, or maybe I’m wrong, maybe he added layers to which no one can notice for good measure, once again not that much of a highlight.

The sixth track “Hop In”, a track that screams “80’s galore” for the synths and the snare that has a fashionably efficient use of the reverb. The seventh track “Compliment”, this track lives by its title because the piano rolls just absolutely moves right along with the synths graciously. The eighth track “Super Sleep” sounds like an indie-pop band’s dream soundtrack. It made me wonder why no one is actually singing for Mokua’s instrumentals full time, it would be a waste of instrumentals if no one actually could pitch in vocals in a beautiful beat. The ninth track and tenth track “&She Gone” and “I’m Always Right”, those are tracks that I would give props to for having a solid beat switch sequence, it was glitchy and downright eerie if you listen closely, definitely one of my favorite tracks in the entire album. The eleventh track “O~~~” has this familiar sound to it, like maybe (but then again I might be wrong) a Korg synth because of the sound. Oh well, the track still has an awesome video-game feel to it. Nothing bland, and nothing too exaggerated. The twelfth track “Brb, V” borrows the same techniques in the first few tracks, it follows a momentum but then it goes downhill by repeating the same sequences. The thirteenth track “FKA Microdot” has this cool ambient Brian Eno-esque synth, maybe my second favorite track in the album. The last track “A Question” has a repetitive structure, nothing too great or anything else I could say some highlights about it as a closer.

Overall, “Entropy” follows a familiar path but it still sustains that consistent mood whenever you’re listening to a soundtrack in the 80’s. Maybe Mokua wanted to be more than just a casual producer that would make music just for foggy, shallow, “absent in substance” nostalgia and “Entropy” might as well will be his magnum opus if he continues to walk down the lane of experimentation about the future in the future. The second half went in with packed tracks, it was vivid and it was one hell of a worthwhile listen. Although, the entire album is intended or fitted to be listened from front to back, but in my opinion, I would rather listen to the second half more than the entire thing because those sequences are really good considering the diversity/styles being brought up in those parts. I do believe that Mokua’s “Entropy” will be a dark horse in one of the AOTY listicles later in the month or so. Be it if underappreciated or not, I’d still bump this album for a listening experience.

SUPPORT THE ART & THE ARTIST: https://mokua.bandcamp.com/album/entropy