Re-thinking sixties sound

A quick Google search on the word “mien” brings the definition, “a person’s look or manner, especially one of a particular kind indicating their character or mood.” With this suggestive thought in mind, once one turns on “Earth Moon” – the first song off MIEN’s new self-titled album – and is greeted with the kind of gentle sitar strumming that a young person like one can really only associate with The Beatles, the listener knows exactly what they’re in for. The song has everything one could want in a tribute song to that era – dreamy instrumentation over a grounded jangle beat that gives off no sense of intrusion. This is a very familiar sound, and MIEN is well aware of that. It’s when they open the second song, “Black Habit” with that dark electric piano power chord that they begin to elaborate on this classic musical idea.

MIEN admittedly though, seems to be content to simply wander through their exploration of sound away from the first song. Not too many risky choices are made in the production even though the Beatles sixties was a very experimental time. The title “(I’m Tired of) Western Shouting,” sums up exactly why they’re starting with this era. There is a lot of Western shouting going on right now, and MIEN seems to be exploring a time where the West was interested in an Eastern sound, specifically Indian sounds.

That being said, the next three songs are more eclectic electronic sound theater than songs. They serve almost as a palette cleanse until the next slice of the sixties comes back along with “Ropes.” After that reminder, “Echolalia” shines by launching into an actual rhythm trip that builds fantastically on this idea of retro rock by bringing in some of those odd sounds from the middle of the album.

Overall, does MIEN give a ton of new ideas to rethink what the Indian sound means to the West? Sometimes! The sound stays in a pretty safe place a lot of the time. But hey, any and all escapism and outside thinking right now is welcome. After all, we’re all still trying to figure out where to go with all the trends from the last century. MIEN’s self-titled album indicates that they’re on the right path.