Matt Mondanile (and guitarist of the band Real Estate) has released the second record this year under the moniker Ducktails in the form of a 5 song EP called Wish Hotel. Wish Hotel continues to build on basic pop elements that most strongly manifest in the previous LP, The Flower Lane. However, while straying away from the more experimental, free form tendencies of early Ducktails, Mondanile has returned to a lo-fi recording approach, forgoing the high production value of the studio and settling in to the comfort of creativity in the familiar space of his own home. The result is something that feels a bit looser, while maintaining all the catchiness present on the previous album. The sound of Wish Hotel is dreamlike and uncanny, reminiscent but decidedly fresh.

Wish Hotel starts all at once with the track “Tie Dye,” led by the hypnotic wash of a ride cymbal joined by a circular bass riff and some real smooth and clean, jazzy guitar chords accented on the down beat of every measure. Mondanile creates groovy, psychedelic formations in and out of which sonic elements emerge and vanish. First, the hi frequency hiss of a cymbal is yanked away from our ears, followed by the entire backing track save for the synth only to reemerge a few seconds later where it left, initially off cadence with the synth lead and phased back together in time a few bars later. The spatial environment of this collection of songs is defined by addition and subtraction. Take for example the carnivalesque ascending and descending synth on “Jazz.” This sound pattern dominates much of the song, and the space created by its removal destabilizes the arrangement and shapes the sound landscape with a welcome emptiness that works in contrast of the previous fullness.

Wish Hotel is woozy and mesmerizing, with languid guitar licks and repetitive drone. This dream-like quality of the instrumentation is reinforced by the vocal delivery and lyrical content. Mondanile tells a story, or rather relays a series of events with a detached quality, or disinterestedness like in “Tie Dye,” where he sings such lines as, “watch the lawn get mowed by the old man who lives across the street.” There is little emotional connection to this mundane event, only the watchful documentation of the observer. Like a dream, things happen without explanation, without personal attachment, or transparent meaning. The most cohesive pop effort is found in the psychedelic loop of “Honey Tiger Eyes.” The rest of the record is more subtly distinct.  Pop components are present without being overtly defining of the compositions. These songs resist the expressed sentiment of the designation of “pop” song. Wandering in circular patterns is the nature of Wish Hotel. A continuation of certain trends developed on The Flower Lane, while also at the same time a return to initial ideas intrinsic to the formation of this project. It seems that a blend of old and new is sought by Mondanile, as he reaches forward while drawing from the past in pursuit of a balance of sound that covers all ground.