** RESCHEDULED FROM 4/18/2021 + 5/28/2020 **NADA SURF:
With their ninth studio album, Nada Surf -- Matthew Caws, Daniel
Lorca, Ira Elliot, and their longtime friend and collaborator Louie
Lino -- continue pursuing their humanistic vision of the world through
hooky, catchy rock songs with sharply drawn, yet tenderly felt lyrics.
Never Not Together, out on TK DATE, is a wide-ranging collection of
songs that revel in the group's ability to evoke and reflect grand and
intricately wrought emotions, whether through sweeping guitar solos or
hushed-whisper vocals.
"Empathy is good, lack of empathy is bad, holy math says we're never
not together," Caws declares at the end of "Something I Should Do," a
crashing power-pop track with an insistent melody that adds urgency to
his thoughts about 21st-century life. The concept of "holy math" which
informs that line -- and the album's title -- was inspired by a Justin
Vernon appearance on the Song Exploder podcast, where the Bon Iver
leader talked about the interconnectedness of humans. "We're all
together, and that's just the way it is, and the way it always will
be," says Caws. "That's the sacred truth of it."
That idea of being linked and searching for connection is a common
theme of the album's lyrics, which depict people hunting down answers
by peering within and reaching outward. "Looking For You," which opens
with a spectral choir and blossoms into a rock spectacle with crashing
strings and two guitar solos -- one played by Caws, the other by
frequent Nada Surf collaborator Doug Gillard -- seeks solace in
doctor's visits and grand metaphors. "So Much Love," which Caws wrote
as part of Hits president Karen Glauber's annual SXSW session, is a
driving, yet kind-hearted reminder that love and connection are in the
air -- even if, in the immediate, it's lurking in the mists of one's
sent-messages mailbox. "Mathilda," meanwhile, shifts time signatures
as it switches perspectives on a childhood spent apart from the crowd,
mulling over what "masculinity" meant even at a young age.
Youth is also a topic on "Just Wait," a shimmering midtempo song
tethered to earth by a fluid bassline. "I wrote 'Just Wait' on a
writing trip to Nashville," recalls Caws. During a session with
songwriter Gavin Slate, the two got to talking about the current state
of youth culture. "I remember how being an adolescent was so scary --
just as it would be for everybody," he says. "You're starting to feel
like an adult, but you kind of don't want to be; you're kind of not
ready, but you kind of can't wait. It's that kind of fright-delight,
like September at school." The end result is empathic and warm, its
chiming guitars and background "ooh-oohs" offering a refuge from the
pressure to keep up appearances in "love and work and where you live,"
as Caws sings on the song's bridge.
In 2017, Nada Surf celebrated the 15th anniversary of their 2002
breakthrough Let Go, an experience that energized the early planning
of Never Not Together. "I made pretty elaborate demos for the songs --
something I've never done before," says Caws. "I think [the Let Go
tour] really boosted my work ethic and made me feel like I really had
to go for it."
Never Not Together was recorded at Rockfield Studios in Wales, where
artists like Echo & the Bunnymen, the Flamin' Groovies, Iggy Pop and
Oasis recorded albums. "I've been seeing the name on albums for so
long," says Caws. "It's a working farm, and the founder/owner,
Kingsley Ward, would come in and tell us stories when he wasn't
farming. I'd walk into town every morning and listen to the sheep
talking as I walked by them."
That openness to listening -- to their fans, to each other, to the
world -- has helped inform Nada Surf's legacy as down-to-earth rock
stars -- musicians who can command festival stages around the world
while connecting to audience members on a personal level, conscious of
the shared humanity every step of the way.
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20/11/2021 Last update