Press
“Folk-noir”
The Guardian, London
“Haunting atmospherics and lilting, melancholy-laden melodies from this darkly romantic alterno act. Intimate and enchanting”
Time Out, London
“Strangely hypnotic... Mandala features the almost spiritual musical ideas of a great band behind the words of Neil Marsh. This is the stuff that always helps us focus and calms us down; in a city like New York, one always needs a lot of this. Mandala from Britain really do play soothing music - you all shall here them in the show in a little while and you definitely won’t forget them.”
The Fevered Brain of Radio Mike, New York City
“Elegant and enchanting”
Into Music, London
“Dark atmospherics and haunting melodies”
TNT Magazine, London
“Intensely passionate and cinematic electroacoustic folk, performed on guitar and laptop and featuring Neil's haunting, theatrical voice sampled and manipulated to create other-worldly sounds and textures. If you've never experienced a laptop accompanying an acoustic guitar, now's your chance to hear it done in the best possible way; the word 'atmospheric' doesn't even start to do Mandala justice”
Electro Acoustic Club, London
“Atmospheric romanticism”
Metro, London
Artist: Mandala
Album: Ever After EP“It is a testament to Mandala's intelligent and intricate orchestrations that the four tracks on this EP add up to an impressive twenty-five minutes in total. Drawing influences, it would seem, from Muse, Jeff Buckley and Eastern folk music, the band manage to transcend the sum of their parts and achieve a vital individuality. Lead singer and guitarist Neil Marsh possesses a set of vocal chords not a million miles away from the aforementioned Buckley - rich and delicate, whilst at the same time capable of great surges of power - but crucially he manages an additional tonality and introspection that makes his voice quite individual.
Third track Figure Of Grace is a hypnotic, acoustic-led minor key tale of loving and dying that threatens greatness at an early stage. The simplicity of the songs here present is the key to Mandala's success. There is a minimalism to the EP that draws the listener in and places us at the centre of the action. Vocal lines swirl around us as bass and drums bring strength to the mix. What sets Mandala apart from the rest, however, are the deft nods to Eastern classicalism - 'the minor falls and the major lifts' as Hallelujah has it - which bring an otherness to the band's sound that, impressively, manages to sidestep pretentiousness and musical snobbery.
Mandala are rising stars set to rise even higher if enough people get to hear them, so enjoy this EP and the rest will follow. 4/5”
Alex Mattinson, University of London Union
“Mandala's is an intense, dynamic and brooding sound comprising of the soaring vocals and beautifully delicate guitar playing of singer / songwriter, Neil Marsh which is processed live with a laptop by Francis Booth. It's an original, haunting and fresh sound we think you will agree”
COSY, London
If you have seen any Mandala related previews, reviews or press please email information@withinMandala.com. Thank you!
High resolution pictures
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Francis
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