Were I a betting man, I’d have no problem putting down a year’s rent on venturing that Matt Mondanile is probably what college freshmen colloquially refer to as a “chill guy.” This is a man who once wrote a song called “Killin the Vibe” (lyric: “Don’t go killin’/ Killin’ the vibe/ I can’t take/ Your lame style”) and plays guitar for Real Estate, whose 2011 record Days is the finest example of a band turning the classic Dylan lyric “jingle-jangle morning” into an ethos. A not-entirely-fair critique of Real Estate is that a lot of their songs sound the same—the band would beg to differ—but there’s no doubting a similarity of instrumental elements. On his own time, Mondanile’s solo recording project Ducktails has offered a peek into what Real Estate might sound like if they began coloring outside the lines, mixing genres while staying true to his pastoral roots. (Similar to how guitar predecessor Roger McGuinn guided the Byrds through several identities while still sounding like the same band.) His newest EP, Wish Hotel, picks up where The Flower Lane left off, playing with electronic textures to further evoke a reflexively hazy attitude toward the way of the world. The Flower Lane was made with the help of fellow New Jerseyians Big Troubles, but on Wish Hotel Mondanile’s returned to recording by himself. Even so, little remains of the patchy, wandering quality that colored earlier Ducktails material. He’s become better at harnessing disparate elements toward a congealed whole: the swirling synthesizer reinforcing the resonant strum at the beginning of “Honey Tiger Eyes", the sustained tones that lend “Tie-Dye” an eerie, otherworldly quality when combined with Mondanile’s breathy vocal. Where The Flower Lane went all over the place, Wish Hotel’s brevity makes it a set of variations on a theme. This is mood music, best exemplified by bucolic instrumental “Naive Music” that sounds like a really great jam session... with himself. Mondanile isn’t making any grand departures from Real Estate’s core theses, but he’s using a wider range of tools to look inward and keep the vibe going. Your tolerance for that vibe may vary; reviewing The Flower Lane, Steven Hyden wrote that “after a while Mondanile’s attachment to the pleasantly ephemeral starts to feel like a dodge.”
There are indeed diminishing returns to being so laid back, and Mondanile can sometimes sound like he’s mumbling with a mouthful of Oxycontin. But the slightly stupefied delivery also comes off confessional, helping with the personal truth at the heart of some of his songs. On Wish Hotel, Mondanile cloaks his vocals in a way that suggests layers of interior mystery, like he’s reading from a water-logged, page-torn diary. “Hidden under leaves no one will see/ So you might as well stay there,” he whispers on “Tie-Dye”; “It’s the story of my life/ No one believes me/ But I wish you would,” he admits on “Wish Hotel". If, in spite of his lyrical introspection, Mondanile doesn’t seem to be communicating any greater depth—well, that’s part of the bummer of being a chill guy. It's hard to be taken seriously when it seems like nothing bothers you at all.
Not everything about this record is hidden meanings and coy smiles, though: There’s also a song called “Jazz” that plays out in a 5/4 shuffle, making the title so overtly descriptive I can’t decide if it’s supremely corny or simply one of the most unimaginatively earnest song descriptions since Macklemore’s “White Privilege". Still, the track transcends its cutesy moniker as Mondanile flitters up and along the wending melody, sighing with romantic lilt about an ambiguous relationship. Wish Hotel might be ephemeral but it's ultimately pleasing, a cloud of scented smoke floating from your speakers to score an overcast day. He might never touch his feet to the ground or reveal a greater breadth of songwriting personality, but why should he have to?
