Not You’s ‘Misty’ isn’t for everyone. The album can be jarring if you don’t know what to expect. Its dreamy synth sound sometimes borders on nightmarish, but in the best possible way. Misty’s appeal is its weirdness and its divergence from what’s comfortable.
At first listen, the album sounds like a migraine-inducing hellscape, but to my surprise, I was feeling this album after only a few seconds. Not You define their sound as “slippergaze”. It’s an odd definition, but Not You’s otherworldly harmonies easily conjure an image of the band performing in fuzzy pink slippers at a house party. Think of it as a magical and feminine subversive twist on the shoegaze scene.
‘Misty’ is the kind of album you get lost in. The distorted and synthesized sound paired with strange repetitive lyrics create a surreal and dream-like atmosphere. It feels like getting a psychological contact high at a show. You know you didn’t take anything, but the experience is hazy and mystical anyway.
Each song has a way of bleeding into the next, the notes lingering in the brief emptiness between. It’s this continuity that makes it hard to name the best tracks on the album. ‘Misty’ is best appreciated as a full album rather than for its individual songs however, it is worth mentioning the absurdity of the band inviting us for tea on ‘PT’ and the rousing power of their closing track ‘haha’.
Not You’s hypnotic effect had me transfixed on this album – I was swaying and tapping along to these tracks almost instantly. ‘Misty’ drowned out my apartment and despite being less than 30 minutes long, it felt as if I was emerging from an hours long meditation.
‘Misty’ isn’t for everyone, but it’s one of those things you don’t know until you try, like black liquorice or pineapple on pizza. Just get your fuzzy-slippered feet wet in this album and open yourself to the ethereal experience of Not You.