ALLOW YOURSELF

Nosound return with their 6th full length album "Allow Yourself. In the build up to the release of this album, the band made it clear they were experimenting with new sounds and really pushing the boundaries of their music. So I was keen to hear what exactly they had in store and exactly how far those boundaries were pushed.

The results are very interesting to say the least. I think they definitley have found a new direction while keeping that Nosound stamp on it. The album starts off with "Ego Drip" and gets you into a kind of hipnotic trance right from the outset through its mesmirsing electronica. But the album has so many twists and turns it will keep you guessing which way they are going to turn next. I do think although this is a further progression in sound for Nosound that it does still follow on from their last album "Scintilla" in the fact that the tracks remain shorter. Unlike their earlier albums which saw a lot longer tracks. This album comes in at just 38 minutes. Certainly not a critism but it would be interesting to see them explore this style of music further with longer tracks.

The style of music I am talking about here is this electronica/alternative landscape. The genre of electrorinica and alternative is often hard to nail down as its is so vast. But here keyboards are domintant which I think really is the driver for electronica. I think the best moments of this album are the wonderful climaxs for example on "This night" and "Growing in Me". The way everything builds in "This night" up to these moments are fantastic and as a listener it keeps you captivated. But then you have songs like "Shelter" and "At Peace" which give the album this beautiful balance as these represent the softer songs on the album.

Overall Nosound have well and truely come up with the goods here. I am very impressed with this album and appreciate that they have stepped outside their comfort zone a little.