EP review: NMIXX - Fe304: FORWARD
- Lammbi
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
After releasing EPs that lead to a mixed bag of highs and lows, ‘Fe304: FORWARD’ finally changes all of that. With more interesting production and mostly sharper melodies, it is the step in the right direction that NMIXX has tried to reach before, but has now finally grasped with aplomb.
“Fascinating sonic experiments that lend with equal hits and misses” is how NMIXX’s set of EPs thus far tends to land, where as much as they are consistent in bringing more genres and sonic dynamics to their overall mix of assured thematics and performances, unfortunately, it leads to a mixed bag where the best cuts manage to punch through in spades, yet the dull songs just seem to wade through the tide. It haphazardly leads to their EPs becoming so interested in providing genre-blurring concepts that, aiming to also provide stellar melodies or production details tends to be brushed aside. A rather frustrating situation that cycles through and through, but their willingness to go further is something worth commendable, sticking to NMIXX’s conceptual coda of breaking apart norms and tinkering towards spaces that they’ve never bothered to go before.
Thus, it is wonderful to hear that their willingness to continue further has led to ‘Fe304: FORWARD’, their recent EP where the girl group mostly turns in their compelling set of tracks to date, offering enough distinct melodic variances and production sharpness. It may still retain underwhelming characteristics from those past EPs - the wonky structure that brings down the PC Music-esque warble of ‘Slingshot (<★)’ and the miffy hook of ‘Papillion’ are few examples of that - yet those songs still do manage to have their unique sonic identity, and those weak points doesn’t exactly overshadow the quality on display. The well-produced trap rattles and warbling low-end of ‘KNOW ABOUT ME’ that builds up into the burbling bridge and final chorus, the swaggering bass, creaking strings, and boisterous vocal samples of ‘Golden Recipe’ are bewildering yet impressive details that Dem Jointz and co blended remarkably, the textured drums and gleaming pianos that give the melodic dynamics of ‘Ocean’ the vastness it needs, and ‘High Horse’ with its shifting drum line, gloomy keys, string accents, and soaring guitar line add so much of the song’s dynamic melodic structure - and most notably, the kind of standout that NMIXX can show at their strongest.
While there is this worry about the limit towards that assured attitude that NMIXX tends to offer yet can become rather one-note later down the line, as well as how they’ll able to keep up with their ethos of making a sound that’d become NMIXX’s own, ‘Fe304: FORWARD’ does give assurance on the conviction that NMIXX has stood for since the beginning, leading to refinement that finally lands their constant ambition on treading unfamiliar sonic ground. There may still be more improvement in sharpening hooks and thematic variances, yet for once, NMIXX has finally hit a home run with this EP. Moving them forward to the uncertainty that the future leads, but that sense of curiosity and self-trust in their craft would allow NMIXX to hopefully shine even further.
Favorite Tracks: ‘High Horse’, ‘KNOW ABOUT ME’, ‘Golden Recipe’, ‘Ocean’
Least Favorite Track: ‘Slingshot (<★)’