MNYNMS

Houston, TX based synth duo, MNYNMS drop their latest remix today with a lovely take on Purity Ring’s “Belispeak.” Their low slung and glossy version transforms the jittery, trap-infused gait of the original into a sweetly smooth, Nu Disco stepper. If you’re in the LA area, check MNYNMS live supporting The New Division on August 7th - Davey

If the phrase “night drive” immediately brings to mind the 2011 Nicolas Winding Refn film about just that, you’re in luck when it comes to this Texan duo. Their dark, 80s-leaning vision of synth-pop fits right alongside the soundtrack that brought acts like Kavinsky, College, and Electric Youth into view. The latest from Night Drive is the Easy To Lie remix EP, out today. This reimagination from shadowy fellow Texans MNYNMS goes full goth-pop, all crystalline synths and crisp percussion. Listen to the remix below and buy the EP here. - THE WILD

We're all children of the 80's - well,at least most of us are - so this next Beautiful Buzzz premier is going to bring you pack to your roots kids! This is deep synth pop deliciousness!! MNYNMS (pronounced Many Names) are brand spanking new band from Texas, and they are are bringing the synthy vibes with this remix of "Imperial" byTEEEL. Comprised of vocalist, Jessica Wahlquist, and producer J.Childs, MNYNMS capture a unique vision of the future! Dropping the tempo considerably, MNYNMS transport the ecstatic, melancholic dance vibes of the original to a hazy planet filled with strange beings and low-slung arpeggios. The celestial romanticism of TEEEL'svocals translate seamlessly upon MNYNMS' airy, mystical foundation, complimenting it's enveloping pads and stabbing leads. This will be the second release from our favorite new indie label Sound Control Records! Listen and love! - BEAUTIFUL BUZZ

The duo, consisting of producer J.Childs and vocalist, Jessica Wahlquist, take on the mighty Teeel with an intergalactic interpretation of his tune, ‘Imperial,’ which was originally release on his his stunning LP, ‘Hyrdostatic.’ MNYNMS inject a darker quality with their remix, something that is simultaneously melancholic yet wholly romantic, like a solitary voyage through some distant galaxy in search of a lost love. - KICK SNARE

How much further can a new band ascend when their second gig takes place at the Knitting Factory?

Houston’s MNYNMS (pronounced Many Names) have been a band for less than a year, yet they have already remixed The New Division’s ethereal club anthem “Introspective.” They have already created a hyper-visual installation for their album, Projection, that not only complements the lush ambient compositions layered with mystical lyricism, but draws listeners into their intricately architected world. They work closely with some of electronic music’s most sought after producers, including Teeel.

What makes MNYNMS unique is their unwillingness to settle into one specific genre. “Our projects surface organically,” Jacob Childs comments. “We create art that attempts to appeal to more than just one sense.”


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If visuals did not exist for the Projection series, each track would generate colors and shapes that would take on a form shaped by the condition and the context of an individual’s mind. Equally transcendent as it is visual, all nine tracks provoke rumination. Lyrically, vocalist Jessica Wahlquist offers prayers that tap into mystical places. Synth lines begin, light and airy, and then sink into mud, dragging and pulling in deep bass tones.

Herein lies the problem. MNYNMS creates art for the highbrow and the pedestrian. The fact that their music fails to be pigeonholed into a music journalist’s tightly-fitted category creates curiosity. If they make music that resembles London and Deep House music’s most obvious characteristics, and they make music that could be played during a hot yoga session, then what exactly is MNYNMS's identity?

To complicate matters even more, for Houston Whatever Fest, Childs will be performing on a drum set while Lacey Youngblood, MNYNMS's third member, will be playing keyboards over Wahlquist’s ethereal vocals.

“I am curious what genre you would categorize us in,” Childs asks. Considering their newest record features a huge departure from their remixes and the Projection series, featuring moments that reveal more by playing less, this requires an explanation that takes us back to a seminal moment in electronic music history.

In 1990, Alison Limerick’s “Where Love Lives” elevated London house music beyond a four-on-the-floor, ecstasy-fueled, instrumental dance-music genre. By adding pop-style songwriting, it forever changed the genre. It forced DJs to compose club anthems, which gave birth to such contemporary artists as Robyn and Emma Hewitt.


Since 1990, electronica is unequivocally responsible for head-spinning results as a near-infinity of subgenres have surfaced: deep house, French house, sub-bass, future beats, darkwave, etc. One thing that each of these genres have in common is their deep affection for the conventional songwriting. The harsh noise/James Taylor mash-up may never see the light of day. Richard D. James and Celine Dion aren’t going to hook-up any time soon to write an album of analog gems. Justin Bieber, Diplo and Skrillex definitely will not get together and collaborate—

What MNYNMS represents is how music no longer relies on regional or local contexts in order to be created. In its heyday, Houston's KTRU, the original Pandora and Spotify except way cooler — played Steel Pole Bathtub, Gyuto Monks, Schooly D and an entire side of Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew before the DJ realized dead air, not music, was being played. Although no other radio station, save KPFT, supported local music by playing Brown Paper Dog and Mike Gunn Theory 7-inches, today is different. Steve Reich could be followed by Future on a playlist. Labels just don’t stick like they used to.

MNYNMS represents the future of music, plain and simple. They make music that is adventurous, danceable, spiritual and their own. Their identity, like many new acts, is what they deem it, not what we as music journalists would enjoy labeling it. Just don’t hold your breath for the MNYNMS/Rusted Shut collaboration any time soon, although that would be pretty fucking cool.

MNYNMS perform at Houston Whatever Fest this Saturday. See houstonwhateverfest.com for more details - Houston Press

MNYNMS
It’s hard to put the proverbial finger on MNYNMS. Even the band — Jessica Wahlquist, Lacey Youngblood and Jacob Childs — suggests “you tell us” under the genre heading of its Facebook music page. The band is well-suited for a first date because it may serve as a conversation starter. Every first date needs talking to fill the awkward silence, and MNYNMS' open-to-interpretation music may provide that. The songs are smart blends of soundscapes, vocals and percussion and hearing them live is engrossing, like visiting the abstract art wing of a museum. The best hope is MNYNMS helps open up some dialogue between you and your date on whatever notions spill from your heads following their evocative set. - Houston Press

Electropop’s tent revival may have moved on to other mutated microgenres, but MNYNMS (pronounced Many Names) have not lost their faith. Their new EP, Rite of Passage, reaches deep into the core of personal experiences to create a poignant and atmospheric homage to electropop’s sweetness and light in four deceptively simple songs.


Rite of Passage builds using the vintage tools found in Krautrock, relying on synth-heavy melodies that swell, swirl and shadow trap rhythms at trip-hop tempos. Jacob Childs builds plodding beats in a weightless world on Rite's opener, “You.” Rising above the ethereal firmament are Jessica Wahlquist’s airy vocals, which, through flawless production, cast a spell in an otherwise automated world. With self-professed depth and expression, Lacey Youngblood’s use of synths provides color in an otherwise achromatic world.

Sweeping away like an undertow, “You” drags casual listeners under, setting the tone for the remainder of the EP. “Beset” shows flashes of a group that could focus solely on instrumental dance tracks; however, the song's headstrong rhythms combine with Wahlquist’s airy vocal treatments to turn an otherwise straightforward track into the EP’s most obvious single. A certain coherency is established. MNYNMS knows how to form a clear narrative to keep a captive audience.

Premiere: MNYNMS's 'Rite of Passage' EP Plumbs Poignant Electropop Depths
Courtesy of MNYNMS
In 2015, MNYNMS, a relatively unknown local act who performed at last year’s Houston Whatever Fest, introduced themselves as a band capable of reaching into avant-garde realms without the smug pretentiousness associated with outsider artists. On their fascinating Projection Series, each track is a prayer rooted in relativistic spirituality. Embedded within them, the idea of certainty is a myth, and the songs forge into spaceless realms and play like soundtracks to dreams, which secured MNYNMS as a group willing to traverse into uncharted realms.

Rite of Passage needs the risks MNYNMS took on Projection Series. “Mirrors,” an elegant song dressed in sublime features and the standard fare found in the finest Ladytron and Goldfrapp tracks, returns to the sweeping currents of “You." Thickness fills cracks. It suffocates, drowns and mercifully lets go. Again, the problem is that groups like The Knife and Crystal Castles have suffocated, drowned and let go of those who committed time and attention to their art. They have planted their respective flags in the same ground that MNYNMS claim.

Best beats first. OMD, Depeche Mode, New Order and many others owe a huge debt to Kraftwerk, yet these groups improved on an idea the German duo established. How Rite of Passage finishes, however, does not place MNYNMS in the same circle of excellent electropop pioneers who first settled its realm. It allows them to learn from the past masters in order to figure out what makes them stand out from the brood of bands in an oversaturated genre - HOUSTON PRESS