Review: Mildlife at Freo.Social

Mildlife at Freo.Social
w/ Mal de Mer, Grievous Bodily Calm
Friday, June 21, 2024

Those looking for a night of music that both massages the mind and moves the feet were in for a treat on Friday as Mildlife descended on Perth. The band broke on the scene in 2017, their sound fully formed out of the gate. Though they’ve won two ARIA album Awards in the jazz category, their sound also skirts the smooth sounds of early electronica, the expanse of Krautrock, and classic psychedelia ala Pink Floyd. Their latest LP in this year’s Chorus delivers all of this in spades in what is the band’s most hook-laden effort yet, and the band took pleasure in bringing their sound to the stage.

This was an excellently curated night for opening acts, with two stellar representatives of jazz-adjacent local sounds in Mal De Mer and Greivous Bodily Calm, both well-loved Perth mainstays who could have carried the gig themselves.

Mal De Mer stepped up first and showed why they are loved yet still worthy of greater recognition. Their combination of introspective indie with tight funk and jazz grooves is instantly recognisable and works to great effect live. It plays like slacker rock with no instrumental slack. On top of being stellar musicians, the band’s songbook is an excellent one. Tunes such as Mirage and Goodbye Headache are a treat live, thanks to the band’s tight dynamic and frontwoman Saskia Fleming’s dextrous vocals. The mental health-conscious Smile was further highlight, ending on a cathartic guitar solo. Do You See Me built beautifully live, while their latest single, Not My Day, injected some serious energy with its 80s-indebted synth keyboard drive. Particularly interesting was the introduction of the as-yet unreleased song Trackstar, an earworm that is sure to prove a hit.

Grievous Bodily Calm had the jazzier influences of the night covered as they snaked their way through a very agile set as they played a back catalogue of at times jittery, at times epic, and at other times dance-inflected numbers. Highlights included the fluttering synths, bright chords and stacked melodies of Yawp!, the bass-heavy and breaks-influenced Footwork, and the atmospheric soundscapes of Pastel Clouds. Keyboardist and occasional guitarist Josiah Padmanabham was a revelation, a musical polymath who seemed a virtuoso on both instruments, all while looking to be thoroughly enjoying his craft.

The somewhat protracted wait for Mildlife proved worth it. The five-piece had bassist Tom Shanahan taking centre stage, even though vocal duties were often handled by Kevin McDowell on keys and Adam Halliwell on guitar. The bass’ prominence was no accident, however, with Shanahan’s memorable basslines forming the basis for most of these tunes. The band ripped straight into things with a foreboding synth-driven intro before launching into Forever, the opening track of their highly-recommended new album. The vocoded vocals of McDowell made their appearance here and were a treat throughout. The band played the track looser than the studio original, using it as a bedrock for a range of spacey synth explorations. This segued into the swing beat and jazz fusion vibes of Zwango Zoo before the lights appropriately hued blue for Sunrise, which featured a great bass and drum breakdown against vintage synth notes that seemed to drift forever.

The setlist sequencing was smart, with the band playing off these more groove-laden tracks against big fan favourites Rare Air and recent banger Yourself. The former is one of the band’s biggest and felt rawer live; the rhythm section drenched in reverb. Yourself was a treat—a breezy yet funky tune and album highlight. The band was in lockstep throughout, putting groove first in a tune that had the crowd shimmying along, including during the track’s intentionally silly vocoder break.

It was time for another counterpoint in the two moodiest tracks from the latest album, Future Life and Chorus. The former paired a stiff backbeat against some major spacey synth explorations. The band’s slicing, trebly guitar chords were a delight, recalling Pink Floyd circa The Wall but without the bombast. The track transitioned into the swampy, never-ending bass of Chorus, which underpinned some serious flute work as Mildlife cut their way through this particular musical jungle.

The final run was left for the bangers. There was one of the band’s biggest hits with Automatic, whose ambience and big build captured excellently live, particularly the delayed bassline that underpinned the track. Vapour from their latest was a fun jam, with its tight synth riff driving the song forward and getting the crowd boogeying. This seamlessly transitioned to Musica, perhaps the band’s most unabashed dance number to date and a live hit, as the audience danced amid its swirling sequencers. An ambient interlude gave way to the night’s final one-two as the band closed triumphantly on fan favourites Magnificent Seven and Return to Centaurus. The former needs no introduction and was as triumphant live as one would expect, while the latter was a moody beast from their latest album. Starting with slow bass and an ethereal mantra, the track built and built as the band layered on some excellent solos.

By the time the lights dimmed, few would have come away disappointed in what was a night of stellar grooves. Above all else, Mildlife delivered a show where they never let their instrumental chops speak over the music. While tight as a drum, they let their virtuosity serve the music rather than the other way around. It’s a shame that it already exists as a genre label, because on this night, Mildlife truly exemplified intelligent dance music.

MATIJA ZIVKOVIC

Photos by Linda Dunjey