Mankato, aka London's Darren Berry, has been playing music since he was in short pants, and counts among his influences everything from Femi Kuti to avant-garde electronica.
Not that there's much evidence of that in this track lifted from his debut album, Safe As Houses. Wasted is a perfectly viable, semi-electronic adult pop number. It progresses straightforwardly from verse to chorus, whereupon Berry tunefully proclaims: "I spend my whole life wasted. I'm not ashamed of it."
Wasted could see Mankato falling between a rock and a hard place. It may be too orthodox for "cool" indie-types but too knowing to grab the guts of the mainstream. Still, if Mr Berry is as wasted as he says he is, he won't care anyway.
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