PREMIERE | Mountains Like Wax, 'Before There Was Plenty'
Out of the haze and glancing into the inner gaze with Mountain Like Wax’s Mitchell Taylor and Sam Katz; photographed by Jake White.
The dusty, rugged and treacherous trails of the world shape and influence us all upon our respective journeys. The humble paths of which we stroll are not cakewalks. For everything that inspires us toward new echelons of enlightenment, there are countless traumatic events that affect loved ones and ourselves that reach the tiers of both the conscious and unconscious sectors of the human psyche. In the current day and age of 2022 we have gotten better at discussing the things have hurt us and how we can better deal with them. More than just viral memes and buzzwords from the cults of wellness gurus and suspect influencers; the path of healing is one that takes work, time and lots of communication with ourselves, partners, family, friends, therapists and often everyone in between. From this we find ways to see a better reality (even though nothing is truly perfect). From here we can have healthier bonds (even though there are always challenges in establishing these interdependent relationships). From here we can move forward from the past, transforming the hurt and grief into something that perhaps makes us stronger and lean toward a level of loving like we have never loved before (wholeheartedly).
Well acquainted with such life struggles are Nashville, Tennessee's Mountains Like Wax, the band of Mitchell Taylor and Sam Katz who present a first listen to their anticipated album debut Before There Was Plenty. Having caught the attention of many back in 2015 with the release of the Tetralogy EP, the two have since weathered the storms from losing close friends from havoc wrecked by tornados in 2020 through the emotional processes of healing from grief and wounds that cannot be seen by the naked eye. Through these processes of seeking greater, honest conversations from coping, personal growth and so forth; Mitchell and Sam present a stunning record that pulls no punches and faces down the fears and tragedies that can keep even the most lionhearted from living an abundant life. Before There Was Plenty offers beauty, commiserating with staggering senses of loss and learning to process the pain inflected by life that can almost be more than a person can bear.
Before There Was Plenty dives into the deficits that lay deep within the dichotomy of feasts and famines. Beginning with the title track, Mitchell and Sam deliver a new pop Southern gothic that treads through the pain in the unflinching pursuit of purpose in an exhausting existence that can feel sometimes like a senseless waste of time. The hardships and hard-fought tribulations of getting out of your own way ring bright and true on "Boxing Your Ears" that makes a break for moving beyond the shame and blame and accepting the things are not always easy to acknowledge and move forward from. MLW highlights how these matters of inner reckoning affect our most intimate relationships on the single "A Lover's Plea (Act I)" that features a duet with Julien Baker, illustrating the fears and pratfalls that can keep the most devout and loverly of hearts from full connecting, giving and receiving one another in turn. The therapy song cycle carries forward in the anthem of drained emotional duress in the wake of coping with immense loss on "Yes, I Grew Tired", further examining the externalities of how we contend and deal with the tragedies and incidents of the world can impact and impair our abilities to function and socialize on "Braindead". Taylor and Katz allow a bit of that Tennessee sunshine to shine on the romantic "Blueside", offering a moment of respite from the album's heavier and more maudlin motifs and solemn meditations.
"Hold Your Own" is an exposition of the privy innerworkings of inner emotions that run an erratic gamut, battling dependencies, manias of the mental health variety and striving to better understand the tenets of personal agency and autonomy. Grappling with the complications of sentiments and processing needs, wants, discerning what is working and what is not resonates on "It Used to Feel Right", carrying ahead into the second act of "A Lover's Plea" where Baker, Taylor and Katz complete a ballad about better communication, constructively working through issues, becoming better problem solvers and examining the imperfections and heartbreaks that break apart the heartbreaking beauty of all that could have been. The candid confessionals continue forward on the sad stringed, stripped-down heartache of "Spit on the Ground" featuring vocals from Tori Weidinger that continues to examine the complexities of finding healthy relationship balances and loving someone else while still suffering deep inside. Mountains Like Wax conclude Before There Was Plenty with a finale ripped straight from the core of the heartland with "Are You Changing?" that questions the things that make us, the influences that mold us, inquiring about the growth made as we course through the winding roads of the uncompromising world in a bittersweet pop symphony that exemplifies the ever shifting interstates of life.
Mitchell Taylor from Mountains Like Wax offered the following candid exclusive insights on the new album:
Before There Was Plenty is an honest plea towards love, and the vulnerable coming-of-age story of a young man trying to discern his way through life and relationships while living with the walls we build up after trauma and the scars that come along with it. It's such a profound step forward for us, both as a bold identity as a band saying this is who we are and publicly announcing the truths of a hard-fought and personal past. I like to think it's the story of love's redemption and the knocks on the chin we take along the way when we've experienced things in life that hinder us from being able to allow someone in. Its deep self-examination. It's the desire to start living life off of auto pilot.
Mountains Like Wax’s album Before There Was Plenty will be available April 15.