Mnqn - MNQN

Dustin Bates, lead singer of experimental rock band STARSET, brings his vocal talents and narrative prowess to his electronic side project MNQN (I shall call the album and the project both under the moniker MNQN, since they're basically the same anyway). 

MNQN (pronounced "MANNEQUIN") is a one-hour conceptual synthwave exploration of artificial intelligence. In fact, MNQN posits a pretty typical artificial-intelligence-science-fiction storyline, of a powerful corporation developing an AI that breaks free and explores itself and its surroundings. But, as it goes about executing it, you'll find it's very nuanced. MNQN is not just a narrative exploration, but a philosophical exploration, delving into the nature of artificial intelligence and human emotion alike, bolstered by robotic spoken-word sections and allusions to the likes of Shakespeare and Carl Jung. The MNQN is constantly conflicted and confused, experiencing emotions in ways that are uncannily similar to our experiences of them, traversing bliss and melancholy and all the while constantly reminding us of both its robotic nature and our own relatability to its nature. This would, of course, never happen with such potency if Bates himself wasn't such a damn good songwriter. But he sure is. STARSET always had a penchant for narrative of the sci-fi kind, and so delving into philosophy within a sci-fi backdrop for MNQN doesn't seem too far-fetched. But the skill in which it is set in motion is nevertheless mindboggling. Adept lyricism and remarkably refined motifs, scattered skilfully across the neon synthwave production canvas, intertwine with Bates' versatile vocal performances, evoking all sorts of ethos and pathos, literary and sentiment, grandeur and wistfulness. And the vocal itself is equally brilliant. Being the lead singer of a band like STARSET comes with a certain level of standards and experience, but Bates delivers all the same. With an offbeat metallic twinge to his voice, sometimes robotic and sometimes floaty, Bates provides himself as a vessel for the hour-long journey that MNQN takes, accomplishing simultaneously clever and engaging vocal performances that catch you on lyrical hooks and drag you along through tracks with a fair amount of volume to them — many of the tracks are, satisfyingly, over 4 minutes in length — backed by clean production. Synthwave, upon reflection, with its cyberpunk influences, seems fitting for a project such as this, and MNQN wields it well — synthpop influences go toe to toe with neon cybersynth/outrun synth lines and prominent beatwork, and even a couple of majestic supersaws thrown in there, reinforcing and interacting with Bates' vocal uncannily well. Whilst it's Bates who sells the tracks, it's the backing production that makes certain his vocal has impact.

There's a whole load of lore I haven't delved into, including the whole MNON against MNQN and how this project fits into the overarching STARSET lore, but I'm not well-versed enough in it, and this review has gotten long enough already. But why only 80/100, then? Why not higher? Primarily, it's the repetitiveness of the production motifs that leaves me wanting a little more. Many of the tracks feel very similar in their synthwork, leading MNQN to feel somewhat derivative at times. Still, a monstrous project, with a monstrous lorescape.