Margarita Mantis – Ocean Of Life
Margarita Mantis – Ocean Of Life – EP Review
As depicted by the artwork you see coming with this new EP by artist Margarita Mantis, the ol’ Ocean Of Life ain’t exactly easy to navigate. From what you’ll read in her biography online, she’s not exactly what you’d call a novice in the game of life, or in music for that matter, but she’s also readily acknowledged she’s continually doing her level best to get better in her craft and all that she does daily too. She’s a multi-instrumentalist in addition to being a singer/songwriter…and like many jacks of all trades, you can hear where she finds her strengths & where there are still opportunities to evolve. I’ll tell ya this though folks…I’m always one to advocate on behalf of those that put passion into what they do, and Margarita has got plenty. She’s also one heck of a writer when it comes right down to it; I’m just trying to keep up.
In fact, if I was to wager a guess, I’d reckon she’d tell you that writing might even be her main strength of her many talents. Margarita is essentially an artist by every conceivable definition, but lemme tell ya folks, she’s got a great way of expressing herself in words that easily rivals what she’s capable of with her music. I’ve spent a great deal of time watching her live videos online through her social media pages, which will actually connect you with the wide range of music she’s been creating. At the moment, she’s got a handful of singles out there online at Spotify, and this shiny new EP…but I’d expect that with the rate of her constant creativity, you can expect her catalog to grow exponentially over these next years to follow as she continues to release her music professionally online. She’s got a whole lot goin’ on right now from the looks of things, right up to and including her debut music video for the opening track on Ocean Of Life, called “Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea” – check it out below!
Honestly, that first video from Mantis gives you a great glimpse into who she is. I cannot even begin to express how many times I’ve watched a debut vid from some artist or band out there, and how 99% of the time, all you’re gonna see is that same artist or band onscreen – and yet here we are, and Margarita isn’t even in her very first video! That’s refreshing…and remarkably egoless…a rare find in the realm of modern day art & music where everyone feels the need to make sure their face is right in the spotlight. I’m not here to tell ya it’s THE video that’s gonna set the world on fire, but I am here to tell ya that I very much appreciate the approach Margarita has taken in playing a more behind the scenes role as the video’s writer/director, even though you can tell from her other live videos online that she’s got the perfect look and personality to represent her music onscreen. “Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea” is actually quite humble art if you ask me, which pairs well with the contrasting boldness of the way she’s designed the song and how it sounds. While you’ll probably notice the speed in which it’s played will increase as it plays on, the real key is that Margarita and the band playing along with her all stay unified together…which is essentially what matters. It actually gives “Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea” a bit of a rebel spirit or nearly Punk bend to her Folk vibe…and I think there will be many people out there that appreciate the versatility they’ll find within the way a song like this one works. For a first impression, it’s pretty clear to me that Margarita’s strengths in writing shine through, her fearlessness as a performer is unmistakable, and that she’s definitely set out to create genuinely ambitious material. That’s an electric mandolin you’re hearing in quite a bit of this first song if I’m not mistaken, which gives “Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea” a naturally different sound than you’ll hear in many tunes; and as things get rowdier, you’ll find the surrounding instrumentation of the guitars, bass, and drums will kick things into another gear. Margarita is fairly even across the board with her vocals in terms of the tones she chooses to use, but you’ll also hear moments like around the 2:50 mark where she’ll find a new artistic twist on how she sings that bring some additional diversity to the sound. There’s still room for her to grow when it comes to what’s happening on the microphone in my opinion…I think she knows her main strengths are likely found in the writing and in her instrumentation at the present time, but there’s no doubt about the fact that she can sing, it’s just seems like it’s more of a matter of prioritizing that in her performances in a way that will rival or equal the strengths in the rest of what she does.
I’m kind of impressed with the timing aspects & pace of these songs when it comes right down to it. I listen to “One Last Time,” and I felt somewhat the same about the structure as I did with the opening track, as in, I kept wondering if things were meant to be as fluid as they are in terms of speeding up and slowing down. Ultimately, I think there’s a lot of risk in the methods she’s taking in that regard – if I’m questioning it, I can guarantee there are a whole bunch more people scratching their heads about those aspects of the material much more than me. But each element of the music manages to stay together, even when you think it’s all about to get thrown overboard into the Ocean Of Life. It’s not something that I’d entirely recommend doing…it’s a stylistic choice that will tend to throw people off, and even I’d tell ya there are split-seconds of debatable timing that we could go back and forth about for days over just how much it would matter to the average everyday listeners out there. I know it can create an obstacle between them and the music when timing issues or stylistic choices show up…but that’s the cost of trying something new, being in the moment, or creating art…you’re always going to find some folks get it, and some don’t…that’s just the nature of the game. My gut tells me that, stylistic choices or not, there’s still room for Margarita Mantis to tighten up what she’s creating from the aspect of timing – the smoother that is in the structure and/or in the transitions, the more accessibility that leads to overall. It really just depends on what kind of artist she wants to be at the end of the day and what she wants to prioritize in her music…like I said, it’s actually quite impressive that the music stays together as it’s played throughout this song, because there are plenty of moments where this could have gone off the rails. Like, if you listen to the spot around the 1:50-ish mark for example, you’ll know what I mean. If you’re willing to risk it, that’s one thing…if you’re looking to create tighter tunes, then it’s another – at the moment, songs like “One Last Time” sound more geared to find success in a live setting than they do on a recording, because the song itself is still coming alive and trying to find its most suitable energy. There are great guitar tones in here though, and I love the opening verse of “One Last Time” as well, in addition to its core message of making the most of a moment, which is really reflected in the way that it moves too…for a studio recording, you can really feel the live spirit in the way Mantis approaches music.
I feel like, for myself personally, “I Will Be Home” is probably the track that made the biggest impact on me as I made my way through the EP for the first time, and continued to resonate strongly as I spun my way through Ocean Of Life over this past week or so. Vocally, there isn’t a doubt in my mind that this is one of the strongest performances I’ve heard from Margarita. Don’t get me wrong, she’s a capable singer…but overall when it comes to the music I’ve seen and heard from her so far, I feel like it’s almost a secondary priority in comparison to just about everything else. So you get these moments of genuine breakthrough brilliance, while you also get moments of questionable tones or energy that could perhaps be more of a fit than it is – but on “I Will Be Home,” I felt like she really tapped into her strengths and revealed quite the resilient spirit in the way she chose to sing this song. It’s to the point where I’d be willing to bet most of us would hear this song the same way and acknowledge that it’s one the strongest of her performances vocally, if not THE strongest you’ll find to-date. You’ll find throughout the set-list that like all singers, she’s got a range where she’s comfortable that works for her – but “I Will Be Home” is the track where it feels like she’s pushed herself to do something different, and the results of what she achieves speak volumes on behalf of the reasons as to why she should continue to push even more. From the reappearance of the mandolin, to the triumphant feeling she expresses through her lyricism and the imagery she uses in the poetry of her words, to the surge of energy provided in the music that echoes the spirit of her words…I’d be looking at “I Will Be Home” as the blueprint for the path forward. She’s got a quality cut here from start to finish. I felt like there was a little somethin’ in each of the other five that I’d sit here and debate back and forth as I listened, but “I Will Be Home” seemed to find that right level of art, fluidity & accessibility combined that I’d be actively seeking out if I was Margarita.
“Forthcoming” has got some rippin’ bass-lines underneath the surface…I really enjoyed those. Overall, it always feels surprising that Ocean Of Life has as much distortion to its guitars, grittiness to its spirit, and a wilder energy that perhaps we’d assume at first…make no mistake y’all, Margarita really likes to get her amplifiers turned UP loud and proud when she plays, and it’s something we can easily notice as her songs shift from a natural serenity into an organic & artful thrashing of sorts. It’s not overblown, it’s not over the top…it’s a style that suits her, and yeah…it’s more unpredictable than most out there would likely assume, which I felt adds a lot of life in the veins of these songs she’s been creating. I mean, if I’m being completely and totally honest with ya, she’s a poet probably more than anything else, and to me, she’s adapting that skill into the musical realm. And of course, that’s more than possible, but it does take a whole lot of effort to tap into how that truly becomes accessible in a way that people can absorb it. More often than not, you end up in a push/pull relationship with the material, where you’ll notice different aspects of a song being the main priority, but rarely ever without the words being at the top of the list. Ain’t nothing wrong with that being the case, but you will generally find that without some level of compromise, it can hamper the degree of accessibility, the strength of hooks, or even the fluidity of a song. For example…a typical rhyme-scheme probably isn’t ever going to be among the main priorities for an artist/writer like Margarita, who clearly wants to say things how she wants to say’em – which is a FANTASTIC quality to possess, don’t get it twisted & don’t get me wrong – like I was getting at, it just makes the adaptation process tougher and a more widespread degree of accessibility harder to achieve. As I believe is the case with all music that gets made out there in this world, there’s an audience for everyone…sometimes it just takes longer to find it is all. Those out there that appreciate and prioritize lyricism & poetry above all else will likely find themselves digging on a whole lot of what Mantis creates.
She writes in way that’s actually quite a bit like many of the artists/bands I personally enjoy, from The Tragically Hip to Sarah Harmer…you know, Canadian-based references that half the world doesn’t even know still, and likely not names that even factor into this California-based artist’s frame of reference either. If you are familiar though…you’ll probably notice a lot of similarities like I do. “Mean A Thing” is another solid example of how far her writing travels…conceptually, we’ve gone from the Ocean Of Life to experiencing “bumps in the road” on land…but you get it, these are all metaphorical aspects of the way that she writes and examines life from her own unique lens. I don’t know that I’d necessarily say that “Mean A Thing” is the second best track on this EP to myself personally, but it might be – I really enjoyed this song…and in terms of accessibility and hooks that the people out there will connect with, it might even be the strongest cut on the record in that regard. Much like the two names I cited up top as a reference…poetry, lyricism, and art have always been the main priorities in the catalogs of Harmer and The Hip too…and you betcha, I can just as easily cite many moments where vocals tones and melodies seemed to color outside the lines just a bit too far in their work as well. It’s all about what you wanna prioritize, as I’ve been saying all along…there are trades that we make as artists…there are things that we sacrifice or compromise for one reason or another, and there ain’t nothing wrong with that as long as you stay realistic, objective, and know what to expect in the court of public opinion. I have the feeling that Margarita naturally embraces the organic nature of her music, and happily celebrates any imperfections as part of the uniqueness in her art just as much as the moments that come across to us universally…and rightly so. She’s an exceptionally interesting character and doing a ton of things right; an artist like this tends to go through about a million points of evolution as they continue to grow. Margarita Mantis will have a whole bunch of artistic breakthroughs along her journey – more-so than most – and there’s a stellar chance they’ll be genuinely groundbreaking moments when she does. By staying true to herself and her vision as an artist, she’ll find that audience that understands the mission she’s on & earn herself a loyal fan-base of listeners that values perspective, pure art & poetry above everything else.
Find out more about Margarita Mantis from her official website at: https://www.margaritamantis.com
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