Now past the Brockhampton phase of his career, Matt Champion tries to explore his solo venture with bits of likable standouts. ‘Mika’s Laundry’ with its intended shambling sound might have solid highlights but is completely let down with the haphazard melodies and blemished production that pulls down Matt’s devoted writing and vocals.
With the Brockhampton boyband disbanding in 2022, it leaves the thought of where and what the rest of the members will be doing in their post-Brockhampton era careers. It’s a question that is then answered when a few members eventually started to focus more on their solo works, giving a fascinating wonder on what kind of sonic choices they’ll find themselves lurking into, especially with some of the members like Merlyn, Kevin Abstract, and Joba are starting to lurk off their own sonic space. Matt Champion finds himself somewhere else entirely, embracing rugged dips and turns that later form his debut project, ‘Mika’s Laundry’.
Within the half-hour collection of songs, Matt Champion’s sonic intrigue can immediately be traced to Dijon as there is a shaggy feel towards the textures and the compositions, which makes sense as Henry Kwapis and Dijon themselves do contribute to the production of the project, with the latter also has a feature on ‘Aphid’ that works well with Matt’s vocals amidst the nimble guitars and sandy drums. With these characteristics in mind, it ends up at a bit of a crossroads where the results can turn into hits or misses. When there are compositions that mesh well with the intended feel of the album, it allows the blends of Neo-Soul, Indietronica, and Bedroom Pop to hit some notes like the set of agile basslines and percussions amidst sparkling keys carrying Matt’s devoted vocal prowess on ‘Aren’t You Excited’, the smack of funk rhythms on ‘Slug’ paired with shimmering synths that work well with the soaring vocal lines, and especially the collaborations with JENNIE’s lovely cooing on ‘Slow Motion’ with the quicker breakbeats and solemn keys and Dora Jar’s hushed delivery that works in contrast with the Matt’s more impassioned vocal work on ‘Steel’. However, despite those quality moments, there are a lot of haphazard melodic points where the sharper progressions don’t work too well paired with the intended shaggy production that for the most part can end up quite flat, which means that the overall momentum of this project just slips out of focus, not a good look for a project that runs around 33 minutes long.
That shaggy puncture does make nudges of sense when it comes to the details displayed in the writing. Essentially portraying an affectionate relationship where Matt nudges the girl he’s into to open up around him, an aspect that Matt doesn’t find himself frustrated towards as he sincerely asks the girl surrounding her feelings with his presence. With a thematic scope that feels smaller, the lyricism allows the overall emotions to be efficient where there is a sense of genuine yearning and devotion toward this girl, with details focusing on mundane intimacy making the arc stick nicely, especially when Matt’s sense of romantic spirit doesn’t waver from front to back.
Yet for a project where the writing focuses on that smaller scope, it just doesn’t work fully when the melodic construction alongside the general production pulls a lot of songs from becoming snappy, instead, it just becomes an awkward mishmash where the sonic synthesis falls apart even more. As a whole, ‘Mika’s Laundry’ still does carry some solid ideas that are then translated to good melodic and sonic execution, especially with the collaborated songs where the extra vocal textures add more to the efficient song structures, but not enough for Matt Champion’s brand of R&B, Pop, and Soul to hit the way they should be, especially when his potent musicianship does show in parts on the album. There might still be stains left that keep the potential to break through, the promises that do shine through provide enough glimpses of Matt Champion’s artistic potency sweeping through in the future.
Favorite Tracks: ‘Aphid’ ft. Dijon, ‘Steel’ ft. Dora Jar, ‘Aren’t You Excited’, ‘Slug’, ‘Slow Motion’ ft. JENNIE
Least Favorite Track: ‘Gbiv’