We met UK alt-pop star Mulini last month when he dropped his single, “Dread”.
Inspired by Mulini’s personal experience with the 2020 pandemic.
Just Beyond is a story of fear, anxiety and the perseverance it takes to come out the other side.
At the beginning of lockdown he experienced the unfortunate loss of his grandfather.
This made him reevaluate his priorities and where he was spending the bulk of his time.
You could say that this project is a part of his grieving process. This was Mulini’s way of having a tribute that would last forever.
The title of the EP comes from his grandfather’s favorite song, “Just Beyond the Moon” by Tex Ritter.
The EP contains 6 tracks. From the very start, the tone is understandably somber.
“Run” feels like driving a sports car through the rain, away from the city.
“Keep me grateful, keep me grateful I’m alive” are the first lyrics we hear, and that perfectly sets the tone for the whole release.
You can hear the pain in Mulini’s voice as he uses the booth as his antidote.
“Keep Moving” has a more industrial instrumental. The way the synths play off the vocal harmonies is incredible. This was the track where I began to really hear the Yung Lean influence that permeates this EP.
“Bliss” has an ethereal, dreamy quality. Mulini’s performance here is the most similar to the UK hip-hop I’m used to hearing.
We talked a bit about “Dread” last month but I have to reiterate: if you like New Wave music, you have to hear this song.
“Next Year” is full of dense, layered synths that seem to mirror the pressure that Mulini speaks about in the song. This song seemed to make me introspective immediately, which is a hard quality to find in music.
The bonus track, “Hotel”, starts as a light piano ballad. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting this when I was going through the EP. The song opens up around 1:45 with some beautiful, echo-y drums. This is the closer you deserve if you listen to the whole project from front to back.
For an EP that’s centered around such heavy subject matter, Mulini did a very good job of keeping things balanced. There’s a mournful brightness sprinkled throughout this release. An optimism among the darkness of life. As the listener, it feels a bit like going through the stages of grief.
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