Since the day I found a dusty and torn, ragged and jagged copy of Pebbles Vol.3 in a London backstreet record store (and damned if I can remember the name of it), I’ve wanted to be asked to do something…

On the back of the sleeve was the foreword. It was a rambling outpour of word soup and adjectives that summed up the sounds of the record. That compilation’s a mix of less than one-hit-wonders that makes Nuggets sound slickly produced. Each song is a lost 60s garage recording, sometimes taken straight off of tape, and those words were as rough as the noise. Anyhows, the whole thing enthralled me.

So when Minaxi asked if I’d write up a foreword for their forthcoming EP ‘Sialia‘, I jumped up at the chance to get scrawling. It might not be word soup, at least I hope it’s not, because Minaxi deserved something different.

This is one part review, one part press release. And two parts a huge thank you for asking.

Foreword: Minaxi – ‘Sialia’

“I’ve never seen Minaxi. And I’ve never been to Brooklyn. I’ve never met them, played with them, they don’t know what I look like. But I do feel a part of their music.

Since becoming entwined with their ‘Zia Fantasy Trilogy’ and reviewing those lush-toned EPs, there’s been a sense of being part of a secret. Their songs drifted over from US to UK with a cool mix of shoegaze and ethereal otherness, they brought their wide open soundscapes right to me. And no matter how many playlists and reviews I sent out, there was still something mine in Minaxi.

Now they’re back with a new set of sonics. To call it ‘Alt-Rock’s a disservice. We play the soft grinds of Slowdive with the agro of Ride, but this is no 90’s revival. There’s both a new calm and pace to ‘Sialia’, there’s as much Cocteau Valentine as there is Four-Tet wonder, especially in ‘Sialia’s remixes.

Every sound in this EP is bolder. More fluid, more set and more certain. Minaxi’s music has grown and they’ve grown along with it, it’s a pleasure to ride along with them.

So sit back and breathe in the slow glow. Minaxi won’t be my secret much longer.“

–          Will Wilkinson, Rats on the Run.

And now without much more a-fuss, here’s the Ep in full down below. Those words and that text has a home on their Bandcamp and even made it to Sialia‘s inlay.