NAO GET BACK TO THE GRIND
New noise and line-up for Edinburgh’s post-rock soundscapers.
North Atlantic Oscillation return after a four-year hiatus with their fourth studio album Grind Show, out on November 16 via Vineland Music. It has been described as being a more immediate listen than their previous long-players – and also as quite the opposite, reckons
NAO songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Sam Healy.
“I’d say it was more accessible, but there’s some dissent on that. Some people who’ve heard it thought we’d gone in the opposite direction. Some have said it’s very proggy, some not at all – just like they did about the last one. Polarising opinions as usual…”
In the gap between NAO records, Healy made a second album with his solo project Sand (“Sand is a more gentle, personal sound; NAO is more widescreen,” he says), but most of the time has been spent painstakingly working in the studio, “struggling to make it sound like it does in my head. A couple of albums in, you’d imagine it’d slide out like a greased lemon, but it doesn’t ever get easier.
“You think of a song in conceptual terms and you’re aware of all the stuff that needs to be heard, but then flattening it into one stereo stream of sound is incredibly difficult.”
No pain no gain, though, and the result, if Prog’s initial listens are anything to go by, is a captivating, atmospheric affair redolent at various points of everyone from Talk Talk and Radiohead to Tim Bowness or The Postal Service. It’s one of those records where it’s as much the atmosphere as the songs that pulls you in, which is what Healy clearly had in mind.
“Atmosphere is the whole point,” he says. “It’s why
I devote so much time trying to sweep you away completely. I think the record is best listened to with headphones because I don’t see the purpose of music as augmenting the real world, but to temporarily replace it completely.”
Although NAO have been a three-piece at times in the past, only Healy played on the new album, assisted by producer/engineer Pete Meighan. So does this mean we’re unlikely to see Healy and friends promoting this record live any time soon?
“We haven’t toured since 2015 and there are no plans right now. But if we do play live, then like the album, I want it to be an immersive experience. This isn’t background music – it’s meant to take you over completely.” JS
“This isn’t background music – it’s meant to take you over completely.”