The marketing campaign for the new album from Nothing has been compelling to say the least. Their promo photos look more like shots of cheeky boy bands trying to break out in to the arena market rather than the faces of the leading purveyors in modern day sad gaze. Their cockiness and confidence in interview scenarios has seen their appeal stretch further than just the underground vinyl market. All in all, a very different approach to the sort of music they create which is often in direct correlation with feeling sorry for yourself. Despite this change of pace, the material that lines the edges of the follow up to 14’s ‘Guilty Of Everything’ is business as usual and then some.
From the shimmering introduction of ’Fever Queen’ through to the quivering delicacy of the title track, Nothing place a firm hand on your shoulder and guide you through their monotone maze of sadness. Creating soundscapes filled with static depth alongside slower simmering numbers, the band have put together an album that pulls you in with its sultry beauty and by the end leaves you feeling broken and defeated with no recollection of how or why. The smooth pacing of ‘Nineteen Ninety Heaven’ and ‘Our Plague’and rough edges of ‘Curse Of The Sun’ and ‘A.C.D’ counteract each other perfectly while the caramel vocals of Dominic Palermo ooze over every dissonant chord with crippling elegance and smooth melancholy.
Ultimately ‘Tired Of Tomorrow’ is Nothing playing at their peak of sorrow and indifference. As lazy and slacking as it is beautiful and engrossing, the band grasp the reigns of shoegaze and pull it in to the modern day as something wholly fresh and vibrant. If the prospect of summer is making your toes curl, Nothing have produced the perfect set of songs to remind you that it will soon be grey and moody again very soon.
4/5
‘Tired Of Tomorrow’ by Nothing is released on May 13th on Relapse Records.
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Words by Jack Rogers (@JackMRog)
