Desire in Uneasiness

‘Desire In Uneasiness’ is a significant cornerstone in the history of the Canadian drone masterminds, Nadja. It’s symbolic of what might be classed as a new era for the band. This is perhaps what most people were expecting, and others, hoping for. A new dawn. A new chapter in the life of the band. It seemed to me that the tank was running on empty for a while back there. Nadja were beginning to ease down on what should be considered a fast past for the drone genre. Albums were flying every which way in the beginning. A new release would be issued to the public before we even managed to hear the last. It was ridiculous. There was a cry from fans worldwide that Nadja settled down into a steady rhythm. One which meant that the band actually takes some time to make their next movie. This was what we got. Nadja had, for them at least, a long break away from the public eye. A few months had passed before we were faced with an influx of new releases, just like the old days, it had us all reminiscing back to the times when Nadja released the destructive ‘Corrasion’ or the epic proportions of ‘Thaumogenesis’, which inspired a new age of drone fans. So, after a relatively short break, Nadja are back with vengeance. ‘Desire In Uneasiness’ is the only full-length out this year, thus far, from Nadja that hasn’t been rerecorded or taken from a live set. One will aim to tackle what it is we have on offer here.


Reviewing Nadja material isn’t the easiest of tasks. It’s fairly standard for reviewers to point this out at the beginning of a Nadja review because although the music may come across as being rather simplistic, it’s actually incredibly intricate when you break down the layers that Nadja hides it’s tortured façade from. ‘Desire In Uneasiness’ is another example of Nadja’s brilliance. It’s an album not built on explosive riffs, or vocals that flow alongside the instruments with such astounding melody, but instead, the beauty of Nadja’s music is more hidden. What lies beneath the surface of this album is by far more important than the details covering the true essence that lays deep down in the very heart and soul of Nadja. ‘Desire In Uneasiness’ is beauty in the form of a drone band. Drone isn’t often associated with such words as beauty, or the connotations of that word. Instead, it’s praised for it’s harsh soundscapes. It’s long and oddly diverse nature. Whilst those facts still remain on this particular album, they are very different than they usually are when it comes to Nadja. First and foremost, the inclusion of real drums. This is a very important aspect of Nadja’s music. Whilst the drums were littered with monotony before, the drums are far more expansive this time around. This is a major positive of Nadja’s new release. They are more explosive than ever, which is odd. Nadja’s percussion section was always a driving force behind the music. The harsh beats of the drum came down like the rain on soil. Each drop piercing the top of the ground like a knife into the heart of a wild beast. Tearing through the essence of the audience with those driving beats. The drums are much more real this time.


With the drums being … Actual drums, the music is given a much more uplifted feel. It’s as if the music has been given a facelift. There has always been a cosmic feel to Nadja’s music in the past. Well, to me that is. I’ve always felt the keyboards gave Nadja a spaced out blood flow which would run through the veins of the musicians and into their instruments as if they were attached to one another. This is partly where the beauty of the album begins and in a sense, where it ends. As a listener, one requires the musicians to give their all when it comes to producing the best music they possibly can. There were times when one felt that Nadja were beginning to churn out albums for the sake of releasing them. However, after the break, Nadja are back as a force to be reckoned with. The lack of vocals was always a positive in my eyes. Whenever Nadja have included them, they never quite seemed necessary to the soundscapes that the band were providing us with. They could detract from the real point to the music - the instrumental parts. Without vocals, one can really focus all attention to the instruments like they deserve to be listened to - with an open mind. Whilst the inclusion of the actual percussion instruments is a major positive, the main aspect of ‘Desire In Uneasiness’ that really strikes a cord with me is the beauty of the soundscapes. The aforementioned cosmic feel of the music. Listening to Nadja is like touching outer space with your mind. If you reach out and let it take you, you will witness the beauty that exists outside the realms that one has become accustomed to. An out of body experience, if you will. I’ve found myself saying that an awful lot when it comes to Nadja, but this truly is one of those moments where you feel like letting go of all the worries you have because those sorrowful guitars, which contain such beauty, lift you out of your seat and take you to a land that time forgot. Whilst this may not be the direction Nadja continue with, I’m glad they took it for just the briefest of moments. Excellent.

Finally, a Nadja album that sounds a bit different! While I enjoy the usual Nadja sound- the heavily processed guitars, the huge, trance inducing waves of sound and what not- I have to admit that I was starting to get pretty freaking sick of everything Nadja stood for. Yes, the guitars sounded good but it's been the same, noisy/fucked tone for about 15 albums now, the drum programming (which was never the strong point) was getting ridiculously samey, and while the usual Nadja formula was getting executed better and better, the amount of repetition on the same formula was making AC/DC look like Ulver in comparison.

Not that this is completely reinventing the wheel. No blastbeats here, no latvian hip-hop influences. I guess this album is vaguely reminiscent of the earlier albums where everything was a good deal more chilled and droney, without much of the noise elements. Certainly the whole loose, garage-y vibe of this helps; whereas most recent Nadja releases suggest compositions written by computers dosing up on prozak, this record gives the remarkable impression of a few humans getting together with some basses*, a few amps and a (gasp!) drum kit, taking a fair bit of weed and just getting into some sort of deep, trancey vibes.

Yeah, overall the change is very nice. The drums are refreshingly organic and sound terrific; I can't really describe just how nice the addition of real drums are. The blissed out jam of 'Signs/Expressions' is a perfect example of just how much better the real drums do; the delicate cymbal work a perfect counterpart to the fuzzy, neverending drones of the basses. The general feeling is that this is a recording of a jam session- certainly 'Affective Fields', with it's mellow, almost jazzy bass lines and general chilled-outness, must've been mostly improvised, whereas the heavier songs are quite huge and groovy indeed- the drums, again, lending a nice heft to the proceedings, as Baker and Buckareff let fly with a rather nice collection of fuzzy slo mo stoner/doom riffs.

Not that it's perfect, mind. The 'deep, trancey vibes' I talked about are great, but often the jamming is taken perhaps a bit too far. 'Uneasy Desire' is a good example of this- there's not really much of a riff, just sort of aimless jamming on a riff... that goes for 16 minutes. Certainly a bit more structure would've been ideal, at least a couple of riff changes would've been nice, and while I have no problem with the "one bass does normal lines, one supplies fuzz" thing that's used in this album, perhaps a bit more variety, some sort of twin bass action would've been nice, but we don't really get any of that.

Still, overall I'm pretty satisfied with this record. It's a nice change and I can definitely imagine that it was a lot of fun to record, as the loose vibes come through quite heavily. Certainly not a typical Nadja record; newcomers should head to the Touched Remake or Bodycage first. However, for those who have maybe gotten a bit sick of the same old from these guys, this is something worth picking up, as it's quite enjoyable and relatively different.

*pretty sure there's two basses on this record instead of the usual bass/guitar setup. I may be wrong, though.