Mukala’s debut album is a half-baked concoction of synthesizers,
looped drums, and restrained vocals. One of Essential Records’ newest acts,
Mukala’s songs do, however, have strong topics, such as the illogicality
of divine love, the deliberate excesses of free speech gone wild, and the
two-way violation that control produces. To run into purposeful lyrics
is particularly refreshing in an era of introspective songwriting. Musically,
though, Fiction blurs into forty-five minutes of forgettable sameness.
One standout is the melancholy minor key longing of the fifth track, but
after several tracks, the loops begin to sound recycled, the synthesized
motifs seem to have been cut and pasted from song to song, and the emotion
in Dan Mukala’s vocals mimics a flat-lined EKG.
For easy listening and background music that blends into the decor, one would do fairly well with Mukala’s Fiction, but if one is looking for music that grips and moves, that wells with intensity, look elsewhere. Fiction lacks a focus of emotion.
By Christopher H. Bunn (10/31/98)
