MNDR

The name MNDR seems to be everywhere at the moment, and with good reason indeed. The most influential tastemaker websites such as Pitchfork and Fader are deeply smitten with the songs that Amanda Warner and her fellow collaborator Peter Wade self-released as a 4-track EP earlier this year. Electrifying, galvanising live performances (including star turns at SXSW and supports to Massive Attack) have won them raves from the likes of New York Times and NME. And of course, you may already recognise Warner from her guest appearance with Mark Ronson on the madly infectious hit single "Bang Bang Bang". As far as introductions go, they don't get any more auspicious, but all of this doesn't even come close to describing what MNDR have in store for us.

Initially germinating from a fortuitous meeting between Warner, a recent transplant from Oakland, California, and Wade, an NYC-based producer/ songwriter of considerable renown, Warner's self-confessed "gearhead" leanings (which had taken her from programming beats as a teenager to even designing the touring keyboard for Yeah Yeah Yeahs) found their match in Wade's experimental adventures into non-traditional sounds, with their resulting music being a perfect study in contrasts, as displayed on their debut release "E.P.E" (now available on iTunes). Here, a variety of disparate influences -- krautrock, early house, minimal techno and lo-fi noise -- are processed and synthesised into a set of boldly offbeat, thrillingly addictive pop songs, from the rousing gallop of "Jump In", to the sweet, soulful ache of "I Go Away".

Recent shows opening for Miike Snow and tv appearances with Mark Ronson on Letterman and Kimmel have brought MNDR to a wider audience. Onstage, Warner is utterly in control of the audience and makes the stage entirely her own, filling it with her larger-than-life personality and belting out future surefire smashes like "Caligula" (which MNDR are giving away on their website) and "Sparrow" with the confidence of a woman who knows that the future is hers for the taking. And who are we to argue?