Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: NoAir
Label: Self-released
Released: 2017
Runtime: 41:03
Rating: 4/5
Noair, the coastal indie rockers of »gloomy outlooks«, are back three years after their studio debut »Existential« with its follow-up, »Superhuman«. The debut showed the band’s big ambitions, but it still spoke to the listener a bit shyly, with a touch of beginner’s naivety in the arrangements. »Superhuman«, though, sounds noticeably more mature and wiser, and it’s an absolute upgrade of everything you could enjoy on »Existential«. It’s also one of the better musical achievements on the Slovenian alternative rock scene at large this year.
The band has moved forward in every way over the last three years. The chemistry between the guys has grown even stronger, and when it comes to basic musical direction they’re now completely on the same page. That kind of unified focus has delivered a robust studio record the band can be very proud of, and it throws the doors wide open for playing abroad too. Even though it isn’t true, everything on the new album sounds like it was done with feather-light ease.
Let’s get to the substance. The production has had a rock-solid upgrade: it shines in how it fills the available sonic spectrum with contrast, so the album breathes in vivid 3D and dynamics, with none of the usual tricks of modern sound design. The guitars are noisy in the proper rock way, but they hold onto that jangle ring, richly colored by booming »echo reverbs«, which gives a refined art-rock contour to the band’s clearly audible drive to chase a sonic, atmospheric hunger in the record. The band has grown in confidence on the new album, both as songwriters and as players. A run of compositions proves it: every one of them is seriously good, polished, and has its own fully formed character. The band approached the finishing of each track with far more thought and a much higher dose of perfectionist commitment. That goes especially for the guitar work, which, besides the sharply cut phrasing they usually go for, also makes very smart use of the available space to add affected (synthesized) sonic pastels, deepening the album’s atmospheric drama theater. In Noair’s artistry, that’s the noticeable »blackness«, now painted even blacker and more pronounced.
The band draws some noticeable parallels with the »post-punk revival« moment in rock’n’roll. Especially the rhythms and the sound of the lead guitar phrases bring to mind bands like Franz Ferdinand, Mando Diao and also the White Stripes, while the album’s experimental streak hints that the guys must have grown up inspired by the sonic and aesthetic exploration that Radiohead have always pursued. »Superhuman« reaches its peak of experimenting with sound, and with style too, right at the end with the album’s longest track, Canvas For Thoughts, with an extended instrumental outro where the song unfolds into a picturesque »live« jam. A track like Clockwork Dance is an example of superbly chosen aesthetics and refined songwriting, revealing a few jolting mood swings within the song, a result of the lively sequence of motifs inside it. This song demands anything but trivial songwriting ethics, yet it speaks to the listener totally unpretentiously, »friendly« and glowing with big musicality, which is just proof of the serious artistic maturing the band has gone through over the last three years. Definitely one of the strongest tracks on »Superhuman«. The band has also mastered the notion of sophistication very well. You can hear it, for instance, in a song built on two firm atmospheric contrasts, switching between calm passages that call for filigree softness and ones loaded with more intense rock decibels of guitar phrasing (the song Colours).
Vocally, Maks Bambič has clearly stepped it up on the new album. His vocal lines, in the melodies he chose for the lead tunes, are far more focused, delivered with a good deal of confidence and a colorful way of bringing emotion and passion to life. In fact, with this vocal progress Maks is the deciding factor that helps lift the whole record, especially compared to the studio debut. The singer’s growth also shows in how well he uses the English language in the verses, where he handles the meter of the lines very skillfully too.
An exceptionally beautiful indie rock album, rich in detail down to the last corner, on which Noair present themselves as a confident musical entity with a clear focus and musical vision. On this album the band has defined its own authorial artistry, delivering a highly intelligent record packed with filigree sonic finesse and tasteful experimentation that never slides into the excesses of weirdness that could wreck the compactness of the compositions. Quite the opposite. Noair know exactly where that line runs. »Superhuman« is an album full of intelligent indie rock, one that will surely widen the band’s fan base, while the concise, expressive content of some of its tracks could also knock on the door of independent radio stations.
Line-up
Maks Bembič – vocals, guitar
Jaša Hedžet Jajo – bass guitar
Aleksander Družina – guitar
Gregor Brajkovič – drums
Production
Robi Bulešič
Tracklist
1. Holly G.
2. Colours
3. Patterns
4. Switcher
5. Piece of Chess
6. From a Near Distance
7. Clockwork Dance
8. Canvas For Thoughts
