A name shouldn’t say too much about a band really, but as a fan of outfits such as ‘And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead’ and ‘Godspeed You! Black Emperor’, for some reason the name ‘Nothing of This is Real’ instantly appealed to me, and I found myself eagerly listening to their album ‘Did we Kill you, Dear?’ within minutes of being sent the detail. The Danish band, are based around duo, Jakob Dahn, and Morten Dalhoff, but now play as a 7 piece outfit live, and after an EP in 2011, have released the album through Wild Mood Records/Iceberg Music Group.
First impressions were just ok, opening track ‘Pirates’ has an upbeat rock n roll opening, a pretty fine tune, and it careers along at a good pace, but I admit to being concerned that I’d stumbled across something a bit too clichéd for my liking. But I needn’t have been worried at all, ‘Did We Kill You, Dear?’ opens up into a blistering, diverse and hugely entertaining album, packed full of big tunes, great instrumentation and astute lyrics.
Whilst this is an album where all 10 tracks are worth giving equal attention, I’ll pick out 4 of my favourites. ‘Waiting Rooms’ was the first track that really captured my attention, opening up with a cute piano theme which is replicated by the vocals. ‘Everywhere around the world’ launches straight into a great vocal melody and the added string orchestration offers a texture to the overall sound which makes it rich and complete. ‘Borrowed Shoes’ has a slightly more laid back Indie feel, and it gets me thinking of bands such as ‘Get Well Soon’, and its definitely a stand out track. And they finish with the acoustic led ‘Drinking Her Blood’, demonstrating an unsurprising versatility to their sound given much of their live touring has been completed as an acoustic duo.
This is an album crammed full of more good tunes than some bands will offer over 10 years. Ok so yes occasionally it feels like a bit of pastiche of a few bands from across the decades – but they describe themselves as ‘Indie Pop Rock Croon’ on their Facebook page, so they’re not always taking themselves too seriously. And who really cares given that what we’re left with is a whirlwind of 10 really fine tracks which have melodies, a richness of sound and real character. I am so pleased that I invested time into this, ‘Nothing Of This Is Real’ have produced an album which is both entertaining and rewarding – I really hope you are all able to give it some time too.
Nordic Music Review 8/10
'Nothing of this is Real' photo by Christian Mailand