NOMZAMO

The departure of Peter Nicholls after the successful "The Wake" and the immediate addition of Paul Menel as vocalist for their third album, "Nomzamo", implied a change in IQ's musical direction, leaning towards light and translucent structures dominated by typical eighties synthesizers, to the detriment of the more complex and intricate sonorities timidly present.

And so, after the intriguing introductory keyboards of Martin Orford in the persistent "No Love Lost", the album travels for most of its journey through tame waters of few risks, with developments that approach the most melodic and accessible AOR, such as the jovial "Promises (As the Years Go By)", the ballad "Still Life", which Ray Carless' saxophone tries to save, or the festive "Passing Strangers" and "Screaming", the latter piece even with an undisguised pop wink.

The recessive gene of IQ's progressive vein is visible in fragments that add nuances to the general appearance of the album, such as Paul Cook's tenacious percussions with African reminiscences in the piece "Nomzamo", the extensive "Human Nature", or the emotive and pacifist "Common Ground", with Mike Holmes' arpeggiated beginning and a luminous counterpoint with Orford's synthesizers that lead to a beautiful guitar solo by Holmes towards the end. Surely the best piece on the album.

Despite the always laudable intention of expanding musical horizons, it seems however that with the departure of Nicholls the band loses more than it gains, even in its graphic aesthetics. "Nomzamo" is a decent album, to be sure, but it could have been better.

2.5/3 stars