'Hope You're Doin' Better' / Mndsgn [video]
LA-based MNDSGN releases '“Hope You’re Doin’ Better”, a heartwarming bid to send unequivocal love and support to someone struggling far away.
Watch the video below.
“Hope You’re Doin’ Better” champions Mndsgn’s complex use of time signatures, reminscent of Onra and the late J Dilla, all completed with an encompassing layer of dreamy vocals. The poignant and soulful song is a taste of what's to come on the new album 'Rare Pleasure' which is out on June 4th.
Mndsgn (born Ringgo Ancheta) started experimenting with beat-making in high school after being influenced by gospel and funk growing up and he's now signed to Californian based label Stones Throw alongside legends Madlib and Knxwledge. After releasing his last lo-fi instrumental album 'Snaxx' in 2019 and album 'Wanna Be Your Man' with Soul artist Prophet in 2018, this feels like another huge progression into another dimension of his unique sound.
On the track, Mndsgn explains:
“During the holidays in 2018, my father had a complete mental breakdown. It was during a family party which made it all the more dramatic and equally traumatic for everyone that was there. I stayed in LA that year so I received the news remotely.
It was heartbreaking to say the least. In the following months, he plunged into a deep downward spiral that involved him quitting his job, isolating himself from family, including myself & giving us an alarming concern that he could potentially end his life if he continued down the path he was on.
It was a desperate cry for help”.
Communication between the two was severed, but Mndsgn took this as an opportunity to learn to send love from afar. The video uses human sized soft toy costumes to bridge the difficult notion of reaching out to somebody who doesn't want to communicate and the painful reality of being knocked back by someone you care for. Throughout the song, vulnerability shines through the lyricism with lines 'I know you're going through the motions like I do, you're not alone' and 'always just a matter of communication, no hesitation.'
Mndsgn uses music as a vehicle for his everlasting support of his father, but the message was not only limited to him. '[it] also made me think very much of my mother and her struggles. And then made me think about my siblings. And then friends in my life who felt far away.'
Article by Sacha Lovell
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