Veiled in the sonic shroud of avant-pop’s murky soundscapes, Portland, Oregon experimental Duo Mordecai are forging an incendiary path. Comprised of lap-steel/vocalist Andrew Alexander Endres and violinist Kate Kilbourne the band came together in early 2016, conspiring darkly sweet, beat-driven bangers that fold in R&B swagger, electro mysticism, and pop sensibility.

           Armed with a three-song demo, the band’s textured compositions utilize steady bass-and-drum against an unlikely lap steel/violin/effects tandem to create bizarre-yet-catchy progressions, as heard on songs like “Price.” The dynamism of Mordecai’s quiver of songs vacillates between the suave, the bleak, the pleading and the rapturous, usually within one track, endearing dark-pop progenitors and new-jack popsters alike.

           Mordecai completed its first tour of the West Coast of the United States in 2016, and is currently working on its debut full-length.    

           -Ryan Prado (Portland Mercury/Vortex Magazine)