I’ve been following brothers Carson and Erik Lund for a couple years now. Their project Mines Falls is an exciting mixture of dark electronics, sleek production, and melodic art rock that sonically touches on everything from Massive Attack and LCD Soundsystem, to solo Thom Yorke and Son Lux. Similar artists aside, Mines Falls is its own thing. Carson and Erik bring pop touches and a vulnerability to their dark electro pop that gives their sound a humanity.
Mines Falls is readying a brand new album called Piano Caldera. First single “Right Angle” was released a couple weeks ago and the Lunds have dropped a very retro video for the pulsating new track. The song’s backbone is a frenetic rhythm and prominent bass line, which the band builds upon with guitar and Carson’s captivating vocals. Everything comes together in an urgent track that brings to mind Fear Of Music-era Talking Heads with its frenetic pulse and percussive-heavy lean. There’s also a pretty sweet guitar solo courtesy of O. Mer.
The accompanying video, directed by Carson and Erik, has a very retro 80s vibe. Driving thru city streets at night in a sports car, the Brothers Lund bathed in crimson red light search for a mysterious gem to help soup up their ride. Think of Michael Mann, John Carpenter, and even Nicolas Winding Refn’s neon-bathed Drive.
Here’s what Mines Falls had to say about “Right Angle” : “The modern consumerist landscape, accelerated by the pandemic, encourages us to live passive, sedentary lifestyles in which we are captive to our various screens and made to feel powerless against the narrow conditions of our lives. “Right Angle” was born out of a growing frustration with those conditions, and a restless desire to break through the facade in some way. We wanted to make a song that fizzles with pent-up energy and a sense of rebellion from both the forces that govern our lives and even the musical style that we’ve come to be associated with.“
I’m a fan of Mines Falls and what Carson and Erik Lund are cooking up. They’ve found this unique sonic pocket that’s equally dark, frenetic, and earnest. You can hear their influences, but just enough to catch your ear. You stick around for what they’re creating on their own merits. And what they’re creating is damn good.
Check out the video for “Right Angle” below. Follow Mines Falls here and here.
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