Mynd Reader’s new single, "Leaving Our Lives," doesn’t just come and go, it sticks. Like a Polaroid that fades only to glow in the memory, the track promises a deeply felt offering well-suited to the golden hour. It’s sun-dappled, soul-studded rock that’s both as new and as familiar as any current music you’ll hear, one that with one foot in the timelessly warm sound of the 1970s and another squarely planted right in the emotional wilds of right now.
This is a band of storytellers, and "Leaving Our Lives" is heavy with the gravity of life lived. It is anchored by Shelby Kemp’s smoky, worn-in vocals, singing with quiet power, the kind that doesn’t need to shout to be heard. His voice glides effortlessly over a dusty groove formed deliberately by drummer and co-writer Brian Sachs, whose musical journey adds real heft to every beat.
For those who recall Sachs from The Authority, what he calls that fearless jam band, which rattled the walls at Wetlands and Nightingales with the likes of Phish and Blues Traveler, this new chapter feels both like a continuation and a fresh start. Many years after the roar of 200-tour-year schedules and the heartbreak of having lost their legendary manager Bill Graham, Sachs has had a reawakening behind the kit. And it shows. The widescreen scope of the track is no doubt indebted to Tonin, the band’s in-house producer and architect. His fingerprints are all over it, bringing again and again an excellent fullness without ever drowning the emotion. His knack is in the nuance, knowing when to pull back and allow the silence to do the talking instead. Mixed by the Grammy winner Michael Brauer, the end product crackles with analogue soul and an authenticity that never feels forced.
Whether you’re spinning down a two-lane highway or gazing out the passenger window, lost in thought, "Leaving Our Lives" seems made for the in-betweens, when the reflective and the release dovetail. It’s heartfelt, no more and no less, and as wide-eyed and big-hearted in all the right ways as anyone could ask for.