- Camille "Billie" Mandoki, daughter of celebrated Hollywood producer Luis Mandoki, is a 23-year-old singer residing in Mexico. A visit to her SoundCloud page should show a passion for writing melancholic music, combining fragile piano with her own soul-stirring vocals. Head over to Facebook, and you'll see she's a fan of alternative rock bands like My Bloody Valentine, Swans and Slowdive. So it's curious that her first official release should land on nascent Mexico City imprint CVMR, whose output until now has carried a distinct club-ready flavour.
Mandoki's "I May Be At Fault" is no dance floor track, though. For one, there's no beat. Instead, periodic strokes of sorrow-filled piano keep the pulse, their intensity accentuated by gauzy pads and Mandoki's quasi-operatic delivery. Over the course of ten minutes, the track edges ever closer to its stormy finale, sending sheets of rain lashing against bouts of thunder and lightning. It's long, dense and largely unchanging, but it draws you in. AntiGravity steps up first on remix duties, strapping knife-edged percussion and a heady veil of bass to echoes of the lead vocal. There's something Burial-like about it, and it suits the original's aesthetic. The same is true of Emili's refix. Faintly echoing Wolf+Lamb-era Nicolas Jaar, a slow, sludgy stomp supports a toffee-thick bassline, dramatic chords and Mandoki in full song. The EP is an example of both artist and label bending to each other's vision without compromising their own.
Tracklist01. I May Be At Fault
02. I May Be At Fault (Emili Remix)
03. I May Be At Fault (AntiGravity Remix)