With each new record, Modern Nature are moving further away from the easy labels of contemporary indie, much the same way that Talk Talk did with Spirit of Eden and subsequent releases. The group's newest album, Island of Noise, is out on Friday via Bella Union, and it's perhaps the outfit's most cohesive yet.
While opener "Tempest" provides a foundation for the record's title's origin, and an intro to what's within, it's "Performance" where this one opens up. Based upon the drums of Jim Wallis, and the licks on the axe from Jack Cooper (Ultimate Painting) himself. The vocals are almost an afterthought, as this thing quietly boils. Elsewhere, the light "Ariel" partially soothes (and points towards the Shakespeare-rooted source of this album's title again), even as "Masque" stirs things up again. The interplay between the bass of John Edwards and the other players is what gives this weight, even as portions of this and "Spell" nearly float away in a haze of concentrated bliss. The closer, the epic "Build", with its "Do you see it?" refrain, is hypnotic, and the fulfillment of what came before it on the long-player. There's a neatness here that keeps things in check, even as each piece of the sound feels as if it's on the verge of exploding outwards. It's that coiled tension that gives everything Modern Nature records, and especially this album, such power.
Island of Noise is out on Friday via Bella Union.
More details on Modern Nature via the band's official website.
[Photo: James Sharp]