Posted on: September 11, 2010 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Mazarin plays a brand of hygienic synth-pop that actually moves beyond the weaknesses exhibited with the genre and comes up with an intricate and compelling style through their tracks that simply forces people to listen in. Mazarin just does not like sticking in one specific style of music; “For Energy Infinite” moves back to the indie-rock style, replete with jangling guitars that was such a rage during the mid to late nineties (and consequently, has a big stamp of Weezer upon it). Even though the majority of compositions on “We’re Already There” seem overtly simple, the beauty of Mazarin comes in the fact that they are able to hide all the wires and efforts found on a normal track, behind the scenes.

Thus, a track like “Shroed(Er)/Inger” might have a light, airy sound to it but hold back tremendous skill in arrangement and the band’s ability to create something that works on a number of levels (for example, the chirping sound of the synthesizer, the twinkling of the bells, and the traditional drumming present on the track). The ability of Mazarin to have an instrumental track at the crux of this disc (the aforementioned “Shroed(Er)/Inger”) shows a band that knows they are at a level where they need not worry about something like an instrumental track going farther south. This is not to say that there is not a vocal presence in the track, either – but the key thing is opening up one’s ears to the band and maybe not having a set of vocals to work with at times. Able to vacillate between two distinctly different styles of music (this instrumental journey for “Shroed(Er)/Inger” and the Pet Shop Boys/U2 sound of “See You In The Evening”), Mazarin on “We’re Already There” is there for every listener, making sure they can connect to all through their different treks.

Going into a tremendously radio-friendly path with their “I’m With You and Constellations”, Mazarin will undoubtedly make a big splash with this album. A solid sense of arrangement and quality infused into each and every section of “We’re Already There” pushes this disc far beyond the average “three radio hits and fodder” format promoted by Clearchannel radio and major labels. Mazarin has struck gold with this recording, which experiments but makes sure to never lose its listener base along the way. Pick it up.

Top Tracks: I’m With You and Constellations, For Energy Infinite

Rating: 7.2/10

Mazarin – We’re Already There / 2005 I and Ear / 11 Tracks / http://www.ierecs.com / Reviewed 23 June 2005

Leave a Comment