New Year's Face. Nick & June

People reading all posts and have a good memory will have encountered duo Nick & June in the weekly singles section on this blog. For them it may not come as a surprise to find the album here as well. With a mix of a few musical styles they have produced a very attractive album to listen to.

The story behind the album is not an every day average one. The duo were partners, broke up and decided to create a follow up record to their EP 'Beach Baby, Baby'. The result is an album that is dreamy, nostalgic in sound and full of reverb. They worked with producer Peter Katis (Interpol, The National, Sharon van Etten). The duo debuted in 2013 with 'Flavor & Sin'.

Despite what my ears are telling me, Nick (Wolff) and June (Suzie-Lou Kraft) are a German duo based in Berlin. There is a slight resemblance with Vienna Duo Cari Cari in the way they alternate the lead singing, musically, I would say The National comes closest. Nick & June is softer though, also because of how the tone of the two voices compare to Matt Berninger's bariton.

Promo photo

What New Year's Face does to me, is put me in a relaxed mood. My ears just want to listen to the songs and not do much else. (This review is not exactly going anywhere because of it.) The effect is near instant, as the mood is laid down right at the start with the title song that opens the album. The the first line of the lyrics does raise questions: "In my head there are pockets, big like rocket ships from the eighties". What to make of that? It is not like the next sentence helps here. The music has that subtle vibe with something like a vibraphone playing a few lead notes in a very slow way and makes me forget my questions immediately.

'New Year's Face' puts you into the right mood for the rest. You will find that the duo gets some assistance from Owen Pallett in the final song, 'Husband & Wife' and from The Antlers on '2017' and 'Pinker Moon'. Russian Red plays along on 'The Boy With The Jealous Eyes'. 'Husband & Wife' was the song that attracted me first. The song ends the album. It is a farewell, in line with the whole album, but with a lot of power, making you want to hear more immediately.

To be honest, New Year's Face is not an extraordinary album. But, it is an album that delivers what it promises right at the start and puts you in a great, relaxed mood. That is worth more than just a little praise.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

You can listen to and order New Year's Face here:

https://nickandjune.bandcamp.com/album/new-years-face