Skip to main contentZac Nelson has already proven his music to be a compellingly creepy, weird, and absolutely wonderful thing through his previous project Hexlove. But with his new solo cassette—Towards Your Own Worlds, released November 1 on Field Hymns—he ups that ante, goes all in, doubles down, or whatever other gambling metaphor you can come up with.
The eight-minute-long opening track, "Labendolla," sets this scene with a remarkable shimmering presence. It squelches to life like someone dropping the needle on an old album or finding a radio station amid a haze of static. Drums steam into the background fighting to be heard over the synth and guitar drones. Then Nelson's lost in space vocals waft in from the distance, using breathless tones and hard pans to feel like a siren song from a merman. The drums decompose, the vocals start coming in clearer, the drones get louder, and everything haunts you until you can hardly stand it anymore (unless you're under the influence of some fine mood-enhancing chemicals).
Then it drifts away slowly never to be heard from again. Well, unless you hit the back button on your iTunes and decide to take the trip once more. And, believe you me, one taste of this track, and you'll be back for another hit soon enough.
WWeek 2015