Album Review: smallmint - 'where we all end up in the end'

smallmint hail from various parts of Northern Ireland, a collective of musicians shaped by their years of service to the music scenes of Belfast. Debut album where we all end up in the end sees the outfit attempt to revitalise guitar-driven sound without breaking any major moulds.

Previous singles ‘Liv’, ‘No Shelter’ and ‘Synonym’ laid the groundwork and remain potentially the strongest offerings from the project, which opens with the impressive ‘Amity’. Organ chords intertwine with guitar melodies and added instrumentation to build up the pace of their indie-rock, Americana-inspired project, with Andrew Cameron-Braithwaite’s vocals never wavering, though rarely finding lyrical depth.

Highlights include ‘The Radiator’ and ‘Devoid’, two tracks which see the frontman find his footing with more confessional, emotional rawness.

smallmint often forge a similar soundscape to that of US bands like New Radicals, Semisonic and The Fray, with this nostalgia working to their advantage on their first full-length offering.

7/10
Listen: ‘The Radiator’

Buy where we all end up in the end exclusively on Bandcamp here.