Moon Mirror. Nada Surf

Nada Surf may have come into my life, most likely like everyone else living through the 90s, with its novelty hit 'Popular'. I did not start taking to the band beyond 'Popular' until the 10s. The last three albums went down really well with me, starting with the superb 'The Stars Are Indifferent To Astronomy' and especially the band's previous effort 'Never Not Together'. To my surprise it's already eight years ago since I saw the band live in Haarlem. Men, how time flies, with that gaping hole exactly in between.

Fans tell me that these albums are far from the band's best. I still have to find out. Running a blog makes it hard to discover other music on the side I can tell you. On the other hand, I would probably not have discovered Nada Surf in 2012 without the blog.

So, Moon Mirror finding its way into my cd tray is not surprising. The album starts so strong. It is a huge mystery how someone after circa thirty years is still able to write such fresh sounding songs based on the same few chords (progressions). Matthew Caws does though. 'Second Skin' and 'In Front Of Me Now' do not only open the album, they open me up as well. The two songs simply slide into my brain like a knife through butter.

Nada Surf for all its days consists of the same three guys, Matthew Caws, Daniel Lorca, and Ira Elliot. If you hear a keyboard, at times even prominently, it is played by their friend of ages Louie Lino. For decades the men play alternative rock of the bittersweet kind. There's always that fear of losing something before it is lost it seems. They always deliver in making perfect blends of rock and pop, in search of perfection and not afraid to find it. Even when punk comes in like in 'Intel And Dreams' and the tempo goes up as if the band members are still 20 somethings, that perfection can still be heard. There's simply no mistaking it.

Promo photo

Listening to Caws' voice, it is clear he no longer is a 20 something. It makes the songs more convincing. After all he doesn't present lyrics about the challenges of old but the ones of today with the wisdom of the past decades worked in. This leads to a contemplative mid-tempo rock song like 'New Propeller'. "Don't be afraid you'll be replaced", Caws sings, underscoring that not everything is greener on the other side of the fence. The song can almost be called sentimental but open yourself to it and you'll hear nothing but beauty and wishing someone well.

It's four and a half years since 'Never Not Together'. That is a long time. Enough to almost forget about a band. What Moon Mirror shows, is that in that period of time a band can return with another great album. I'm not afraid to write after a few listen sessions that this is an album I will want to play for quite some time like its predecessor and 'Stars'. The album feels so much alive, so full of positive energy, something that I want to hear regularly. From a sort of ballad, like the title song, to the charged alternative rockers, including 'Open Seas', and everything in between, Moon Mirror is the real Nada Surf.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

You can listen to and order Moon Mirror here:

https://nadasurf.bandcamp.com/album/moon-mirror