rook&nomie - me&you (Review)
Synthpop and future bass collide on a witch house album worth your while...
13th December 2019
RAN
My Rating:
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8.2
/10
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REVIEW
To call this project "straightforward" in any way would be the mistake of someone who hasn't even listened to the album, because as soon as you give this thing a listen you'll likely be curiously captivated by the slowly building electronics and eventual metal influenced vocals and production on the final portion of the opening track "incorporeal", a fantastic and self contained introduction to an album that has a lot going on under the surface.
Firstly, let's talk about the instrumentals themselves - well, they're usually synthpop influenced in some shape or form, with considerable elements of both more ambient and more hardcore electronic styles that come to dominate on certain tracks, offering a diverse listening experience that will go from hypnotic and beautiful on the somewhat trap influenced "azure paler than the sky", a song that seems at least in part a direct parallel to much of what Purity Ring has been doing this decade. Continuing on to "soft atrocity" and the sound is completely different, with a much more manic tone and some more of the metal-inflected vocals and guitars on the chorus, offering for a wonderfully weird and yet poppy song, the latter aspect not detracting from the lyrics but helping each song become more catchy than it might otherwise be, and certainly more catchy than what I'm used to within this style.
I find the lyrics to be a pretty integral part of the album as, whilst there isn't necessarily a running narrative, each song provides its own interesting concept and emotion that's often executed best by what they're actually saying. Take the emotive "glitter in the dark" , a song that discards subtly to achieve the full force of emotional weight that it's carrying in delivering a really sweet anthem to rook and nomie's friendship (or romance, it could be either). Not only this, but the song "ruin" is similarly emotional, this one taking a much sadder approach to the topic of being LGBT in an intolerable world - thankfully, there's an element of positivity even here with the last two stanzas, and the conclusive lyric of "we've found home" is a touching note to end on.
Overall, this album might not be the most consistent as it does have a couple of forgettable songs, but for the most part the strident instrumentals, fascinating sonic choices and strong writing makes it a thoroughly enjoyable listen, and a synthpop standout in a year dominated by the style. Don't skip this one!
TRACK RATINGS (/10)
1. incorporeal - 8
2. let me live - 8
3. slime brooch - 8
4. azure paler than the sky - 8
5. soft atrocity - 9
6. blightwork - 6
7. lightning daughter - 7
8. drift+disconnect - 10
9. ruin - 8
10. glitter in the dark - 10
11. i love you i'm scared - 6
12. endless - 9
BREAKDOWN
Ambition: 9
Atmosphere: 8
Catchiness/Enjoyability: 8
Content/Ideas: 9
Emotion/Engaging: 9
Execution: 8
Production: 8
Structure: 8
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Lyrics: 8
Vocals/Flow: 7
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Total: 82
Check out the music video for "azure paler than the sky"
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