Album Review: Mono – Oath (Pelagic Records)

Veteran Japan-based instrumental rock band Mono return with ‘Oath’, their 12th full-length album of genre-defying contemporary music. Pondering the time that makes up life, and how to make the most of that time. Out on June 14th, 2024, via Pelagic Records.

Experimental and unrushed music that combines classical orchestration with extensive shoegaze detail, Mono continue to be a treat to the senses. Delivering an album full of supremely attractive sounds, and while Mono might be lethargic in their approach, it’s a record you can truly sink into.

The first few tracks, a trio of bright and brilliant efforts, will be enough to sell most on this record’s quality as they showcase Mono’s leisurely approach perfectly. Three tracks; Us, Then, Oath, and Then, Us. Three stunners that lets the orchestra and brass elements of Mono’s sound grow and grow until the mind is consumed by the gorgeous atmosphere. Then, they arrive, and with it comes blinding instrumental shoegaze wonder.

It’s an extravagant start, and so soul-warming. Yet there is so much more to come. After all this is a 70+ minute album.

Things really start to expand with Run On, and it’s Mono’s first epic of many. Also likely to be just one of many times you’ll find tears rolling down your face. Again, it’s their lack of urgency, the slow growth of the soundscape, that makes this track so much more impactful. Its transformation is staggering.

Words can’t quite do the experience of Oath justice though, and while it does require patience, it’s so rewarding few will be able to deny its brilliance. It’s how a track like Reflection, more sorrowful than anything heard so far, can leave you mouth agape. It’s how a track like Hear the Wind Sing can leave you feeling emotionally cracked open, and it’s how a track like Hourglass can feel so refreshing via a subtle approach. This section of the album is some of the best instrumental rock, experimental shoegaze, alternative, or whatever genre you want to try and classify Mono as, heard in a long time.

The mad thing is, they’re not even close to being done.

Close your eyes, turn the volume up, and shut the entire world out. Let Moonlight Drawing take you away with its tearful melody, grand orchestration, and powerful guitar/drum rhythm. Another example of how good this album is, and another example of how talented Mono are.

If you think there’s no way you can sink any further into this record, you’re in for a big surprise. First, there’s Holy Winter. A track with one of the prettiest intros and lovable veins of melody running through it, of all. Then there is We All Shine On, a track that transform fragility into a soundscape that makes you feel that little bit more powerful. Before this album of the year contender closes out with Time Goes By. One more emotionally wrought experience that creates deep and meaningful layers of atmosphere. Allowing the entirety of Mono to shine, and putting an emphatic exclamation point on the entire experience.

Words fail at this stage. Just listen to this album. It’s worth every second of your time.

Mono – Oath Track Listing:

1. Us, Then
2. Oath
3. Then, Us
4. Run On
5. Reflection
6. Hear the Wind Sing
7. Hourglass
8. Moonlight Drawing
9. Holy Winter
10. We All Shine On
11. Time Goes By

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