Surreal Nation – I Know Better (EP)
Surreal Nation – I Know Better
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/surrealnation/
Hailing from Delaware, Surreal Nation has grown leaps and bounds as an artistic unit since their first formation and now, settling on a five piece lineup, the band seems to have discovered their optimum shape. Fronted by powerhouse lead singer Nikita Yvonne, also known as Nikki Nation, Surreal Nation immediately present themselves as a different musical flavor than our ears are accustomed to in the alternative indie rock vein. Their songwriting definitely occupies its own sphere and bites with the genuine bite of a point of view with some of its own to say. The band’s influences rise through the mix throughout I Know Better’s five songs, but never in such a way that you can say the band’s imitating anyone. Instead, they’ve learned their lesson from music they admire and transmuted it through their own sensibilities, talents, and experiences into something truly their own.
The improbably titled “Would You Do the Honor of Becoming My Mexican Divorce?” is a title full of dark comedic cynicism and the song does have some of that, but it’s also an intensely human experience both musically and lyrically. The arrangement is the musical equivalent of a quick fist, tight and focused, yet peppering the listener with its merits. The title song makes more use of the band’s two guitar attack than we heard with the opener and its coupled with a rock solid rhythm section push that keeps this tune close to listeners from the first and spares us nothing. Nikita Yvonne’s singing is a song in, song out highlight of the EP and this cut harbors one of her best performances from the release. “I Can Feel the Night” shows how adept of a singer she is. It’s a much more obviously commercial minded track, but Surreal Nation deserves props for achieving that variation on their sound without ever sacrificing any substance and Yvonne’s singing has a bright airiness, married to a dash of soul, that immeasurably improves an already fine song.
The aforementioned soulfulness comes more to the fore with the EP’s fourth track “Hangtime” and the sensitivity enlivening her singing is a marvel to hear while the band turns in one of the EP’s most nuanced performances. It pairs quite nicely with the final song on I Know Better, “Spirit is Silent”, and this last compositions spotlights the band’s lyricism and intelligent approach to the craft in a distinctly different way from the earlier cuts. It rounds off I Know Better in a very satisfying way and established followers of the band will turn away from this release certain Surreal Nation are now locked into their ideal sound and configuration while first timers should be refreshed by a band with such a vigorous identity all their way that still push all the expected buttons and more. It may be only five songs and none of them particularly long, but Surreal Nation’s I Know Better is a winner.
SOUNDCLOUD: https://soundcloud.com/surrealnation
Mindy McCall