The Last Mixed Tape

Dublin indietronica duo Columbia Mills provide a mood-driven and harmonically gorgeous debut E.P. with Factory Settings.

Opening with the sheer depth of field found on the stand-out track ‘Never Gonna Look At You The Same’, Columbia Mills set the mood and textural vastness of Factory Settings with confidence.

Moving forward into the highly stylised electronic leanings of ‘Headlights’, Columbia Mills make the transition into the more overt Depeche Mode influenced aspect of their music in a way that feels earned and organic.

Continuing this fluorescent indietronica ambience, Factory Settings hisses and howls with an undercurrent of deftly placed synth texture and reverb soaked washes of harmony, best seen in ‘Fishbowl City’ and developed rhythmically in the E.P’s title track finale.

Factory Settings is a record born out of environment and atmosphere. With the large-scale indietronica sound of Columbia Mills giving the lyrical bite of the songs a broad canvas to work from, these two elements juxtapose each other with the vast soundscapes giving support to the more up-close, subtly performed and personal songwriting.

An E.P. of bold design, populated by vast washes of glaring electronic tinged mood and sound, Factory Settings feels lived-in and real. There is a depth to Columbia Mills music, flickering with bursts of brilliant slow burning sound, that is captivating, ambitious and personal. A strong debut, from a promising band.

Rating: 9/10

Factory Settings by Columbia Mills is due for release on Friday, November 28th.