The Future
Introspective EP
By
MNEA
It was back in July 2023 that I reviewed the debut, and
now sold out release ‘End Of Your Era’ by Collective MNEA. Now they are back
with the hugely anticipated The Future Introspective EP which keeps the core of
the label artists from Live From The Groove but, adds in new features along the
way.
The Future Introspective EP sees Dweller on production,
mixing and mastering duties. The artwork and design come from Tuff Draft Design
alongside artwork concepts by Ethr82. With such a wealth of artists involved in
this one, I’ll give you as much information as I can in the review. So, sit
back, keep your mind open and join me as I take you through The Future
Introspective EP.
As the initial release for the EP is on limited edition
vinyl, with streaming coming only once the vinyl is gone, I’m going to refer to
side A and B as I go along. The EP kicks off on the A-Side with Look Forward
which features King Kashmere, Enlxsh and Dweller, with cuts coming from DJ
Cuban Jon and DJ Simon C. The beat is heavy getting your head nodding as soon
as it drops; under this beat is an almost eerie sound from keys that grabs your
attention enough to keep you focused on the lyrics, while the cuts slice
through your awareness with laser like precision. This one looks toward a
possible dystopian future for the human race, where we have these dreamscapes
put forward by the emcees, each one giving us a bleak look at what’s to come in
a future that might be a lot closer that we truly realise. With those bleak
thoughts still so raw in our minds, it’s time to Free My Mind with Jess
Edie on vocals. The sound eases the anxiety of a bleak future with a vibe that
takes you back to the days of Bristol’s Massive Attack or, more recently, the
neo-soul of O.Love. Jess brings us a stunning vocal sound that calms the most
stressed nerves as she opens up on what she will do to free her mind from all
the struggles and strains of life. Now suitably chilled out, its time to join
Dweller, Enoch and DJ Simon C for the Rapture. Organ notes and horns mix
with an up-tempo drum beat that gets you bouncing once more. This one kind of
mixes the definitions of the word rapture in to one track as it brings you that
sense of euphoria, teasing you with aspects of looking back at what has gone before and then looking forward to the
start of a new journey; in a way that is uplifting and bringing optimism to the
forefront. Side-A is rounded off with Hurt, featuring Laura Vane, this
one combines bass and piano as the main elements that give this one a deeply
soulful vibe but, with a funky edge. Laura brings this powerfully soulful voice
that captures every part of your being as she brings forth the fact that no one
can get away from the fact that there are aspects of life that with hurt us. We
can do our best to avoid and ignore what’s happening around us but, sooner or
later we have to face that facts and it will hurt…
With Side-A ending on such an emotive note, it gets you
wondering as what Side-B is going to bring. You don’t have wait long as Life’s
Many Questions brings a feature from Scrabble and sound that this jazzy
funk vibe to it with this mix of drums, keys, guitars and more. Scrabble goes
off on this one juxtaposing everything you think might be the answer and
whisking your thoughts into a whirlwind, all in the space of a single verse.
Still leaving with no real answer to life’s many questions. Next up we find
MNEA reworking the track Loose Tongues
by indie funk band The Stash Collective. This one features SimpleSamples and
Kansul with cuts from DJ Simon C. The sound is heavy with a pounding bassline
that gives this one a head banger vibe that will likely have you punching the
air. The title of this one describes the track perfectly as its all about
letting their tongues loose and spitting forth the kind of bars that have you
buzzing from top to bottom. The midpoint of the B-Side brings you The Most
Wonderous Part Of Your Life as Conbel Evrence, on co-production, helps
bring you this chilled out interlude of laid-back beat and organ notes that
takes you to the point of being so relaxed you just want to float off to this
one for the rest of the day but, this is MNEA and you know that is not about to
happen. The penultimate track of the EP is the Free Your Mind (Extended Mix)
which features guest appearances from enlxsh and UK DMC finalist 2024 DJ Rasp
alongside Jess Edie. That same neo-soul vibe is here once more, only this time
you get a lot more of it and you really feel how that deep bass vibrates your
entire body. Enlxsh adds this deep verse that mirrors the sentiments of Jess
and is all about looking deep inside to unlock what will truly set you free. DJ
Rasp brings the kind of cuts that take your breath away, adding another element
to superb extended version. The final track on the EP is the Hurt (Algo
Remix). Here we find that Laura Vane’s stunningly powerful vocals and
message remain the same, but the huge change here is the DnB sound of the
remix. This one turns the tempo up a few notches, which you might think would
change the vibe of this one far too much but, the increase in tempo is just
enough to keep the message working while taking the track to the kind of level
that could well make it a huge club banger. While DnB is not my cup of tea
normally, this one actually sounds quite good and does work very well.
Now, I’ve kept the descriptions relatively short here but,
there is a lot more that you could say about these tracks but, sometimes it’s
just not needed. MNEA and Live From The Groove have done a cracking job of
dropping an EP that, firstly, is as long as some albums can be these days;
secondly, they have experimented with a host of different vibes and sounds that
take you on a true audible rollercoaster ride. What this shows is that MNEA are
not just your normal run of the mill Hip Hop collective, but they are here to
bring good music from whatever genre fits the bill. So, the foundations of the
sound might be in Hip Hop but, what you do get from this one is that MNEA are a
collective that truly want to stretch the boundaries of their musical
influences and by doing that they are going to open the listener up to a sound
that you can never anticipate one hundred percent. That is especially apparent
when you consider that outside of the core label artists, you will never know
who might feature and the vibe they could bring.
It is actually very hard to sit here and know exactly what
more I can say about this EP. It is one of those things that kind of speaks for
itself and you are just going to have to listen yourself to know what feelings
it is going to elicit within you.
Every feature on The Future Introspective EP brings
their own energy and a diverse range of styles, flows and vocal dexterity. From
Rap vocals to Soulful sounds, this one has something for everyone to enjoy and
I have to say that I enjoyed every minute of it.
With all that talk of new paths to follow and new beginnings
on The Future Introspection EP, has made me feel I’ve said enough here
and so it’s over to you give it a listen and see how it speaks to you.
This one is out soon on a limited run of 100 vinyl copies. One
randomly selected pre-order customer will also win a USB stick with the entire
back catalog from Live From The Groove and some exclusives too. There will also
be CD, Cassettes and a couple of concept
canvases available too that are hand painted by Ethr82.
Digital release will follow once the vinyl is sold out. So,
don’t sleep on this one.
My humble thanks to Dweller and all at Live From The Groove
for giving me the chance to drop this exclusive look at the EP.
Enjoy and I’ll see you next time.
Steve
LINKS
Live From The Groove Website and Bandcamp:
https://www.livefromthegroove.com/
https://livefromthegroove.bandcamp.com/
Live From The Groove Socials:
https://www.facebook.com/livefromthegroove
https://www.instagram.com/livefromthegroove
https://www.youtube.com/livefromthegroove
