Meltt - “Love Again”

SXSW 2020 - OEB Score: 8; Popularity Index: 8

Pairs Well With…Alt-J, Surfer Blood, JMSN

Canadian indie rock band Meltt add a nice thread of tension to their chillwave-engrained sound, balancing soft and full on debut album Swim Slowly. Take “Deeper Water”, a song that is one part melodic trip hop and another bright indie pop, a heady track that also drives with danceable rock energy. Meltt have a way of pulling back their sound like a rubber band, only to snap back with stored intensity. Arpeggiated guitar riffs percussively lay down melodies that creep like a down-tempo jam on “On Your Own” and “Wash Over Me” and Meltt really commit to those staccato notes building the backbone of their music. Vocally, Meltt mostly take an understated approach, but there are some fresh twists of R&B and soul on songs like “Footprints of the Sun” and key single “Love Again”. One of the most interesting elements of Meltt’s approach to their hybrid sound is their ability to break out to full-out psych pop jam on a whim, providing a sense of adventurism to a baseline down-tempo sound. (Kevin McStravick)