The Nomad Project present us here four different singles that will be part of an upcoming EP. An short set of songs that returns seeks to evoke the adventurism of Kraftwerk and the like but through simpler and more modern tools.
Calm soothing piano meets video game inspired keys, electronic percussion and on occasion some distorted keyboard sounds. There is a bass guitar that appears on “Go to the Moon” very briefly and various other instruments that come to form one layer before disappearing. The whole compilation focuses on a main motif that is then met with another two or three layers and a basic syncopated beat that remains constant while each song progresses. The modus operandi of each of these four pieces seems to be to introduce the central motif consisting of a cadenced chord progression and then progressing through a variations until deconstructing all the layers down to that main motif.
“Forward and Upward” is possibly the best song here as it progresses in narrative fashion effortlessly and rather than working back to the central motif it take the fully developed iteration and maintains the same layer but develops the higher harmony so that the piece is instilled with a sense of climax and conveys feeling of ready to fly towards the unknown on some technological marvel.
“Supernova” progresses in the same way with its multiple layers but loses focus at the half way point for a transition to a bridge that is related to the main set of melodies but feels out of place and just an easy tool to reintroduce certain ideas. “Ronnie’s Spaceship” is too short to fully develop and almost feels like a lounge jazz due to it. The songs in general ultimately suffer from being too short and not having the time to further guide the listener into exploration. The Nomad Project should focus on not only reintroducing layers like they do well but to to take existing ideas and to slightly vary their melodies while progressing forward.
This compilation is a short and fun listen that works well when one doesn’t have the time to fully immerse themselves into more complex electronic works like Oxygène. Though this compilation is incredibly flawed, it shows the necessary ideas and ambition to believe that better pieces will come from this artist.
