Saturday 21 May 2016

Album Review! Nonbeliever: Maybe It’s Strange

Maybe It's Strange

Maybe It’s Strange opens with a hypnotic cicada apocalypse, immediately giving an eerie feel to the first track, ‘Advancing Giants’. Nonbeliever conveys an impression of sad guitar (the image of The Old Guitarist by Pablo Picasso comes to mind) with a distinctive magnetic rhythm and vocals that echo down a corridor from somewhere I’ve never been. I feel as though I’m on my way somewhere. A burst of drums and a plane flies overhead and then I’m onto the title track ‘Maybe It’s Strange’; guitar riffs that seem to bubble up from underwater and spoken vocals akin to early Nick Cave open and close to pulsating drums.

I am absorbed into the sound, mesmerised and unable to break free from this strange place I’ve been transported to. ‘Circles’ is the sound of a fatigued man which sings to a desperateness of one world weary. ‘You Have Not Been Listening’ takes on a Spanish guitar vibe. It’s nice to be able to hear the authentic rawness of the key change which is all too often edited out of music. I’m flying high above in the weird world Nonbeliever has created.

‘Oh No’ beckons from bridge to somewhere more upbeat; with tingling obsessive guitar and regular haunting drum beat. I would say Nonbeliever is a great likeness to musical genius Thom Yorke with his sparse languid vocals; Nonbeliever combines almost jovial compositions with lingering lyrics and heartbreaking vocals. I am reminded of a song by Arleta called ‘Apo Mesa Pethamenos’ which means ‘dead inside, alive outside’, Nonbeliever comes from a world of the stoic yet irrevocably morose but which is veiled by a drawn-on smile. I can’t fail but warm to his happy hurt.

The moody turns continue throughout the album from dream-like ‘Summer Evidently’ to electronic video game tinkles with ‘Hero’ which is cut through with sparse resonant cries. ‘Dead Leaves’ is a firm favourite of mine – going from relaxed vibes to tired vocals singing of inner brokenness. His soft and shrewd dark indifference is distinguished from the more sultry guitar.

The final track ‘Crying Wolf’ is a beautiful allusion to Radiohead’s early years with gorgeous trembling spiritual vocals alongside sorrowful cries. Nonbeliever has really impressed me, even without the sheer layers of his musical ability, he evokes a remarkably poetic presence and speaks to the fragile regret inside each one of us. I’m looking forward to hearing where this talent progresses in the future. 

Verdict: 8.5/10


Stephen Fairbanks aka Nonbeliever

Lucky for us Nonbeliever is all over the internet so there's no excuse to not listen - go on....

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