CD Review: In The Nursery - Blind Sound

Written by Sebastian Huhn Saturday, 23 April 2011 14:57

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Artist: In The Nursery
Title: Blind Sound
Genre: Orchestral / Electronic
Release Date: 29th April 2011
Label: ITN Corporation

Album Review

It’s been quite a long time, isn’t it? Nearly 5 years since there’s been a regular ITN studio album with ‘Era’. In the meantime the band has appeared regularly on festivals with a couple of very impressive live performances and some of their optical music performance which I’d like to attend one of some time. Back to the topic: The new album entitled ‘Blind Sound’ will hit stores at the end of April.

The album’s getting off with only subtle sounds evolving out of thin air. Then you hear more layers piling up, connecting with each other and forming something what could become a reasonable club hit in a slightly different fashion. Much to my surprise it’s one of the twins taking on vocal duties on the opening ‘Artisans of Civilization’ to which a rare promotional video has been shot. ‘Past Glory’ is like an epitome of dramatic sound design, producing a string of sonic climaxes with the orchestral backdrop tied to a vibrant rhythm section. Actually, I’m wondering how long it’ll take until that song is licensed for a movie or series. The album’s title track is the third one on our list, building from detached ambient layers in its first seconds to a captivating swirl of monumental extends, especially with the distorted voice whispering “Blind Sound” to a sound scenery that makes apt use of a wall of chorales, strings and stuff, counter parting them with rather subdued parts to keep up a constant tension. All is complimented with a dynamic assortment of drum figures. An element stepping into the limelight on ‘Crepuscule’ in a very powerful fashion!

‘Trial By Error’ makes you believe it would build to a climax right at its start yet it never really does. Instead there’s a sharp cut leading over to a sonic carpet of grainy electronics, serendipitous melodies and a monotonous whispering voice carving a message into our minds “Analyse and rearrange / analyse and make a change / trial by error” Instrumental ‘Coloured Silence’ uses turquoise and blue tones to sonically paint the next few minutes for  us with grandness, serenity and sublimity. An extended cut of it would be very much appreciated. ‘Lectern’ is what a reading desk is called. Keeping that picture in mind for the song it makes great scenery, seeing one of the twins standing behind one of these, reading a sad story to an audience that wouldn’t dare to breathe now not to destroy the atmosphere. Musically it goes back to ITN’s roots melding the spirit of post punk past with their soundtrack future. It’s an odd kind of atmosphere unfolding, one that’s not letting go of you and keeps lingering on long after it fades. A fascinating piece of music! ‘Crave’ throws in an electrik marching drum section that somewhat disturbs the mood build up by the melodies for me.

On ‘Resonate’ it’s perfect again and even invites to a swaying dance in its rhythmic intricacies. The album’s coming to an end with the instrumental ‘Overtone’, a compound of wonderful strings and piano guiding you tenderly to the very end, and making you want to start over again. In fact I find ‘Blind Sound’ miles better than ‘Era’ at the time though that one had great compositions on it, too. It’s just that the new album flows seamlessly from start to finish, yeah even with the minor flaw in ‘Crave’. It’s like one body and it’s definitely the bands best to date.


Tracklist

01. Artisans of Civilisation - 6:59
02. Past Glory - 5:04
03. Blind Sound - 4:42
04. Crepuscule - 4:22
05. Trial By Error - 5:28
06. Coloured Silence - 3:04
07. Lectern - 4:35
08. Crave - 5:31
09. Resonate - 3:57
10. Overtone - 2:11


Line-Up

Nigel Humberstone
Klive Humberstone
Dolores Marguerite C
David Electrik


Website

http://www.inthenursery.com/


Cover Picture




Rating

Music: 9
Sound: 9
Extras: -
Total: 9 / 10