SWim

by
mws

When I recommended M w S Goodbye Softly on Cul-

tureless, I had no idea Id be recommending their EP
a few weeks later.
-ghavin deonarain
If youre looking for a breath of fresh air in a music scene that feels increasingly
populated by synth heavy pop constructed around drops, look no further than the
Swim EP from Italian born/London based M w S. The duo does their damndest to
modernize jazz by employing electronic production and the repetitive instrumen-
tal tracks of more contemporary pop and using the flowing vocal melodies with
auditory flourishes of traditional jazz. The confluence is refreshing. The tracks are
bright and airy while having a smooth groove to them that its impossible not to
lose yourself in. Listen along here: https://soundcloud.com/mwsduo/sets/swim

Much of Swims neo-soul feel comes from the tonality of its instrumentation, and
the opening track, Clich, sets a baseline that the rest of the EP can read off of.
The piano that opens Clich isnt particularly revolutionary but offers a solid
foundation off of which the staccato guitar melody and the light vocal melody can
play off of. Each of the elements takes the opportunity to explore a bit; the guitar
line will allow blues to creep in, the vocal melody alternates between packed with
lyrics and syllable elongation to keep things interesting, and the piano trills in the
background arpeggiating to its hearts content. All told Clich is a strong introduc-
tion to the EP, establishing a base of tonal style and jazz philosophy that allows for
later tracks to experiment with its formula.

That experimentation starts off right away with the intro to Waves. Its intro
sounds like techno, with repetitive beat and all before dropping out entirely to
take a more R&B/Soul-like path through the rest of the song. The composition is
song for me, because it gets really hard to
pick out your leads from your rhythm section.
They all run together simultaneously and at
differing times the synth will wind its way to a
more complex melody before giving way to the
guitars noodling. This synth, which forms the
rhythm section, is one of the true highlights on
this track, marrying the more traditional melo-
dy with the electronic backing instruments. If
Clich defined this albums tone then Waves comes last it achieves a looseness that the
defines its rhythm, inviting you to groove along
with it effortlessly.
Good Vibes is where things go from good to
great. The keys here stand out right away. Quick
successive notes follow one another before a
quick pause creating a staccato rhythm that
feels full without resorting to overfilling the
auditory space. This strange affectation actu-
ally forms the tracks backbone, allowing the
bassline and vocal line to play with another
above it. The bass is reminiscent of the up-
right basslines that youre familiar with even
if you couldnt name a single jazz song while
the bright vocals take an R&B melody and sped
them up a bit. Although Im not the hugest fan
of Retrospective for Loves bars on the back
third of the track, his deeper melodies (which
comprise the majority of the performance)
work well with the instrumentation, especially
when contrasted with Giulia Magnanis higher
pitch thats well established through the first
two-thirds of the song.
Goodbye Softly is my favorite track on the
EP, so much so that it made on to Cultureless
FMs main playlist. What Good Vibes did with
its keys Goodbye Softly does with its guitar,
taking the same structure but opening up its
acoustic possibilities with the more mid-toned
guitar melody. Off of this backing, Magnanis vo-
cals take more risks, teasing melodies out with
more frills and ornamentation (and she even
plays around with resolution here and there),
the beat makes itself more noticeable with
snare notes, and the bassline builds itself up
to greater complexity than on any other track.
This song is the culmination of all the ideas
that are present in its fellows and becomes it
other tracks lack. It flows freely and organically
without feeling regimented in the least. I love it.
I just love it.
M w S Swim EP is a short introduction to what
could be an artistic output characterized by lev-
ity, history, and expert composition. It exudes
investment in an environment rife with aloof-
ness and brightness without venturing into
kitsch. Londons electropop scene has clearly
collided with the lounge sensibilities of 70s
Italian crooners, and the result is the best thing
you can be in the modern era: different.
When I recommended M w S Goodbye Softly
on Cultureless, I had no idea Id be recommend-
ing their EP a few weeks later. Just goes to
show, we know whats going on over here. So
take a spin by our playlist and give it a listen.
When youre done you can head over to iTunes
to purchase the Swim EP here: https://itunes.
apple.com/it/album/swim-ep/id1211651684