Music usually comes in pretty distinct categories, with a continuum existing that sees popular and experimental at each pole. This is based upon conventions (or the lack thereof), with pop music following them and experimental music, well, experimenting.
Edinburgh’s Now Wakes The Sea seem to exist at numerous points on this spectrum, with nods to pop music, lo-fi indie rock and downright weird psychedelica and drone. Originally the solo project of Alan McCormack, Bildungsroman sees NWTS become a band, a band which utilizes a whole manner of weird and wonderful sounds to create their schizoid songs. Imagine locking The Antlers, You Won’t, The Microphones, Owen Ashworth and goodness knows who else in a haunted junk shop and demanding they record an album with makeshift instruments crafted from whatever they could find. The result is every bit as good as it sounds.
A bildungsroman is a coming-of-age story, and this album sees NWTS evolve not just in terms of numbers but in sound and maturity. Listening to their previous releases, you get a sense of the arc that their music is taking, and appreciate their efforts to explore new territory. The promo information from label Mini50 Records quotes John F. Kennedy: “If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to follow his vision wherever it takes him.”
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Mini50 Records are one of the very best labels in their willingness to release albums that push boundaries and challenge expectations. We have covered this before with Old Earth, discussing how his music stands up as pieces of art, refusing to bow down to conventions and compromise ideals for accessibility. With NWTS this is thrown into sharp relief as they prove in parts of the album that they are more than capable of doing the popular bouncy indie rock thing. They could easily have put together a solid, entertaining collection of songs which would have been well received. No listeners would have questioned their choices. No-one would be thinking ‘why didn’t they try to explore some weird stuff here? Why did they settle for this great little lo-fi pop album?’
The conclusion is that their forays into the bizarre and challenging were not a choice but a need. This is not a band peddaling imitation in an attmept to get ahead in the Big Blogosphere Popularity Contest, nor is it an act that was not thinking of the listener when writing and recording. This is an attempt to communicate a specific interpretation of what it means to be human, and it is up to us listeners if we want to put in the effort to understand and appreciate it.
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This album opens up an interesting debate on the value of effort (on the part of the consumer) in relation to art, and how this should be balanced with accessiblity. How effort and reward should be related, and how instant gratification could ultimately limit the effectiveness (intensity?) of said gratification. There are probably far more knowledgable people than myself discussing this very topic, so I won’t go any deeper than that, but I feel it should be known that art which requires some effort on the part of the reader/viewer/listener is always taking a chance, as a big investment requires a big payoff. While this album does require an investment (even the title demands further reading), rest assured that it is an investment worth your while.
You can buy Bildungsroman from Bandcamp or via Mini50 Records.