| Wild Nothing |
| Life of Pause (February 19, 2016) |
Wild Nothing — Life of Pause (February 19, 2016) 
♦ Jack Tatum je samotářský člověk–hitmaker, který nahrává většinu z hudby ‘Wild Nothing’ sólo, svůj proces studiové práce však nezahaluje tajemstvím. Texty jsou sugestivní jako obvykle. Album zahajuje píseň ‘Reichpop’ v polyrytmických pojmech, postupně však sklouzává do sladkých 90. let, až k power–popovému hnoji v ‘Japanese Alice’, novovlnné ‘TV Queen’ a zrychleného fuzzy dream popu v ‘To Know You’. Jsme tedy svědky hned několika turbulencí v jeho procesu psaní v průběhu necelých 50 minut. To dokazuje, proč Tatumovo songwriterství potřebuje trochu koření, aby zde mohla vyniknout basová linka a prostorový zpěv. Ten zní jako pesimistický Marc Bolan obalený v těstíčku psychologie víry. Celý tento smažák je tedy dost natahovací jako žvejkačka, občas vytváří zmatek a vybíhá od jednoho paddocku vlivu k dalšímu, takže do konce této zběsilé jízdy není jisté, který jeho ‘kůň’ je tím nadopovaným ‘Nikasem’..., a který prochází zápisem dostihových komisařů jako čistý. Pochvalu si zaslouží za okamžitý přechod z hnoje k nejlepší písni alba ‘Life of Pause’: od této tříminutovky až do konce alba už se to dá snést. Obzvlášť, když následující ‘Alien’ sází na kytarový chorus, reverb a delay: tohoto zvonivého kurzu se nelze dostatečně nabažit už od dob Cocteau Twins. Album je melodické, nápadité, barvité, má spád. V archivu zůstává, americké porotě ho nepředložím. John Alexander Tatum není vinen. Zprošťuji ho viny ve všech bodech obžaloby kauzy “Wild Nothing — Life of Pause.” [Ben Tais Amundssen]
♦ John Alexander Tatum
Location: Blacksburg, Virginia, USA
Album release: February 19, 2016
Record Label: Captured Tracks / Bella Union (UK)
Genre: Dream Pop, Shoegaze, Indie
Duration: 49:45
Tracks:
01. Reichpop 4:52
02. Lady Blue 5:00
03. A Woman’s Wisdom 4:10
04. Japanese Alice 2:44
05. Life of Pause 3:06
06. Alien 3:53
07. To Know You 5:57
08. Adore 4:55
09. TV Queen 3:52
10. Whenever I 4:57
11. Love Underneath My Thumb 6:19
• All songs written and composed by Jack Tatum.
Personnel:
Current:
• Jeff Haley — bass guitar
• Nathan Goodman — guitar
• Jeremiah Johnson — drums
• Kevin Knight — keyboards
Former:
• Michael Skattum — drums
• Max Brooks — drums
• Clay Violand — bass guitar
• Pete Chudzick — drums
© Jack Tatum of Wild Nothing performs on stage on Day 2 of Primavera Sound Festival on May 23, 2013 in Barcelona, Spain.
♦ When Jack Tatum began work on Life of Pause, his third full–length to date, he had lofty ambitions: Don’t just write another album; create another world. One with enough detail and texture and dimension that a listener could step inside, explore, and inhabit it as they see fit. “I desperately wanted for this to be the kind of record that would displace me,” he says. “I’m terrified by the idea of being any one thing, or being of any one genre. And whether or not I accomplish that, I know that my only hope of getting there is to constantly reinvent. That reinvention doesn’t need to be drastic, but every new record has to have its own identity, and it has to have a separate set of goals from what came before.”
© Jack Tatum. Wild Nothing / Author: Marty Perez / Pitchfork Festival 20117-16-2011
Review
Words: Clarke Geddes / Score: 8/10
A quite enthralling album...
♦ Having sprung from his dorm room with bold ambitions on the dream–pop packed debut ‘Gemini’ then repeating the feat all over with the even richer follow–up ‘Nocturne’ in 2012, Jack Tatum’s songwriting smarts were never in any doubt. It’s what he chooses to do stylistically with Wild Nothing that keeps people guessing and intrigued.
♦ On his third album ‘Life Of Pause’, his recent aim to “constantly reinvent” Wild Nothing’s sound shows a writer who puts paid to being pigeonholed, with a constant itch to move forward and explore new sounds. You get the sense it’s the album Wild Nothing have been leading up to. Whilst both previous albums showed Tatum’s ambition, this time having the resources to decamp the band to Sweden, to record with Peter Bjorn & John’s John Ericsson, seems to have propelled their ever–growing sound. Saxophones, live string orchestras and marimbas move their late 80’s indebted indie pop to new levels.
♦ Opening with the tropical polyrhythms of ‘Reichpop’, the album soon takes in sugary, early 90’s power–pop (‘Japanese Alice’), Talk Talk–indebted new wave (‘TV Queen’) fuzzy dream pop (‘To Know You’) and much more in between. And though the sound on ‘Life Of Pause’ is commendably altered from previous LP’s, there’s still plenty here to satisfy fans of Wild Nothing’s previous offerings. ‘Adore’, for example, with its echoes of 2012’s ‘Nowehere’ single, is a lush highlight that suggests Tatum may have been giving Tame Impala’s ‘Lonerism’ a few spins during his writing process. It proves why Tatum’s songwriting needs little seasoning in order to stand out, the sloping bass line and spacious vocals sounding like a downbeat Mark Bolan coated in psych swirls.
♦ Upon hearing ‘Life Of Pause’ you can make sense of Tatum’s recent statement of being “terrified by the idea of being any one thing, or of being any one genre”. It’s not an album that slopes along, resting on its laurels. More an album that demands repeated listens, at times creates confusion, and juts from one influence to the next. Tatum’s record collection is clearly solid, and now he can again add one of his own to it. ♦ http://www.clashmusic.com/
Website: http://www.wildnothingmusic.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wildnothing
Press:
Agent: (US), (UK/EU), (LEGAL)
© Author: Shawn Brackbill
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| Wild Nothing |
| Life of Pause (February 19, 2016) |
Location: Blacksburg, Virginia, USA
Album release: February 19, 2016
Record Label: Captured Tracks / Bella Union (UK)
Genre: Dream Pop, Shoegaze, Indie
Duration: 49:45
Tracks:
01. Reichpop 4:52
02. Lady Blue 5:00
03. A Woman’s Wisdom 4:10
04. Japanese Alice 2:44
05. Life of Pause 3:06
06. Alien 3:53
07. To Know You 5:57
08. Adore 4:55
09. TV Queen 3:52
10. Whenever I 4:57
11. Love Underneath My Thumb 6:19
• All songs written and composed by Jack Tatum.
Current:
• Jeff Haley — bass guitar
• Nathan Goodman — guitar
• Jeremiah Johnson — drums
• Kevin Knight — keyboards
Former:
• Michael Skattum — drums
• Max Brooks — drums
• Clay Violand — bass guitar
• Pete Chudzick — drums
♦ When Jack Tatum began work on Life of Pause, his third full–length to date, he had lofty ambitions: Don’t just write another album; create another world. One with enough detail and texture and dimension that a listener could step inside, explore, and inhabit it as they see fit. “I desperately wanted for this to be the kind of record that would displace me,” he says. “I’m terrified by the idea of being any one thing, or being of any one genre. And whether or not I accomplish that, I know that my only hope of getting there is to constantly reinvent. That reinvention doesn’t need to be drastic, but every new record has to have its own identity, and it has to have a separate set of goals from what came before.”
Review
Words: Clarke Geddes / Score: 8/10
A quite enthralling album...
♦ Having sprung from his dorm room with bold ambitions on the dream–pop packed debut ‘Gemini’ then repeating the feat all over with the even richer follow–up ‘Nocturne’ in 2012, Jack Tatum’s songwriting smarts were never in any doubt. It’s what he chooses to do stylistically with Wild Nothing that keeps people guessing and intrigued.
♦ On his third album ‘Life Of Pause’, his recent aim to “constantly reinvent” Wild Nothing’s sound shows a writer who puts paid to being pigeonholed, with a constant itch to move forward and explore new sounds. You get the sense it’s the album Wild Nothing have been leading up to. Whilst both previous albums showed Tatum’s ambition, this time having the resources to decamp the band to Sweden, to record with Peter Bjorn & John’s John Ericsson, seems to have propelled their ever–growing sound. Saxophones, live string orchestras and marimbas move their late 80’s indebted indie pop to new levels.
♦ Opening with the tropical polyrhythms of ‘Reichpop’, the album soon takes in sugary, early 90’s power–pop (‘Japanese Alice’), Talk Talk–indebted new wave (‘TV Queen’) fuzzy dream pop (‘To Know You’) and much more in between. And though the sound on ‘Life Of Pause’ is commendably altered from previous LP’s, there’s still plenty here to satisfy fans of Wild Nothing’s previous offerings. ‘Adore’, for example, with its echoes of 2012’s ‘Nowehere’ single, is a lush highlight that suggests Tatum may have been giving Tame Impala’s ‘Lonerism’ a few spins during his writing process. It proves why Tatum’s songwriting needs little seasoning in order to stand out, the sloping bass line and spacious vocals sounding like a downbeat Mark Bolan coated in psych swirls.
♦ Upon hearing ‘Life Of Pause’ you can make sense of Tatum’s recent statement of being “terrified by the idea of being any one thing, or of being any one genre”. It’s not an album that slopes along, resting on its laurels. More an album that demands repeated listens, at times creates confusion, and juts from one influence to the next. Tatum’s record collection is clearly solid, and now he can again add one of his own to it. ♦ http://www.clashmusic.com/
Website: http://www.wildnothingmusic.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wildnothing
Press:
Agent: (US), (UK/EU), (LEGAL)
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