Philly locals Nothing release sophomore album Tired of Tomorrow on Relapse Records, following the controversy surrounding original label partner Collect Records. Collect Records loss is Relapse Records gain.
Treading the fine line between melancholia and euphoria, Tired of Tomorrow builds on 2014 debut Guilty of Everything, and often adds a further lush layer of strings into the wall of sound filling the speakers.
Leader of the 4 piece, Dominic Palermo has drawn on his recent personal events and tragedies experienced since the debut (isn’t the best art inspired by tragedy ?), to create a heavy doom laden drone of an album with an uplifting afterglow. On a recent plane journey from Italy, this perfectly soothed the usually daunting experience.
Album opener Fever Queen is an urgent pounding start to proceedings, with its crashing symbols and bass intro, before adding the dreamy vocals, and spiriting the listener away on a multilayered cloud.
Following track The Dead Are Dumb is named after the feeling that is just damn easier being dead....I’m guessing you are now realising this isn’t a light and airy listen ? Think MBV and even Lush, and you won’t go far wrong with this gorgeous track.
ACD (Abscessive Compulsive Disorder) is lyrically about having a rotten tooth and an equally rotten personality (phew.) and is a heavy slice of foreboding, but again has the musicality and structure to be euphoric at the same time.
The just damn beautiful Nineteen Ninety Heaven is where the electric guitars get put away (briefly) for the acoustic, to create this dreamy slice of bliss, with added strings and female backing vocals provided by the equally beautifully named Kylie Petal.
Curse of The Sun, in which “It’s the suns fault that everyone on earth is alive”, gets us back on track with the immersive multi layered wall of sound.
You might think Everyone is Happy would be a uplift in the subject matter thematically running throughout the album, but you’d be wrong...its about watching someone you love suffer and the inability to do something about it....thankfully, the song is another lovely slice of dreamy, droney pop music the Cocteau Twins would be proud of.
Title track Tired of Tomorrow closes this 10 song album, and begins with some delicate piano work, before the soaring lush strings take over to create an unexpected, yet fitting end to this collection.
This is an album of contrasts - gloomy yet uplifting, quiet yet loud, heavy yet light, but the overall feeling having listened to the album several times is an blissed out, uplifting one and ultimately rewarding. Play loud.
9/11
Keith
