Nation of Language (Sub Pop)

After building an Electro-Pop foundation with their first two albums, Introduction, Presence (2020) and A Way Forward (2021), Nation of Language have struck a very delicate balance on their latest effort, Dance Called Memory, which marks their full-length Sub Pop debut. It’s the balance between creating music that sounds ethereal and uplifting, while writing lyrics about heavy and emotional subject matter. The synthesizer-driven album is like a sensory journey of warm and calming tones, while the lyrical themes explore the pain and frustration of friendships that fall apart, the end of relationships, and the passing of time. Through that juxtaposition, frontman Ian Richard Devaney tries to convey a human element to the music while crafting sounds made by drum machines and computers.

“There is a dichotomy between the Kraftwerk school of thought and the Brian Eno school of thought, each of which I’ve been drawn to at different points,” says Devaney. “I’ve read about how Kraftwerk wanted to remove all of the humanity from their music, but Eno often spoke about wanting to make synthesized music that felt distinctly human. As much as Kraftwerk is a sonically foundational influence, with this record I leaned much more towards the Eno school of thought. That this thing should be as unvarnished and warm as possible. In this era quickly being defined by the rise of AI supplanting human creators, I’m focusing more on the human condition, and I need the underlying music to support that.”

The soothing yet melancholy single, “I’m Not Ready for the Change,” is the perfect example of that line of thinking. It explores themes that most everyone can relate to, delivered through Devaney’s dreamy, melodic vocals. “I came across a photo from a party — it was filled with couples that were no longer together, friends who had gone their separate ways. It wasn’t from very long ago, but the sheer impossibility of such a gathering struck me in the heaviest way,” he explained. “Sometimes it feels like the pages of life’s book are turning faster than you can comprehend them.”

The song is getting tons of support from Radio Milwaukee, KCLC, WRLT, KLRR, Indie 102.3 and others, while the first single, “Inept Apollo,” also found fans at stations such as WRNR, WCNR, KCMP, and KRVB. As of September 30, Dance Called Memory had reached #27 on the JBE Non-comm chart and was still climbing. Meanwhile, the North American tour to support Dance Called Memory is well underway, traveling down the West Coast through mid-October, before heading east and wrapping up on October 30 in Washington, DC.

Despite the heavy themes at the album’s core, Devaney hopes the music will have a positive impact. “Instead of hopelessness, I want to leave the listener with a feeling of us really seeing one another,” he says, “That our individual struggles can actually unite us in empathy.”

Photo by Ebru Yildiz