Marissa Nadler’s 10th album, New Radiations (Sacred Bones Records), finds her stripping down to a more minimalist yet cinematic feel. It feels spacious, yep, with an intimate yearning. Her vocals are produced in a similar reverb-heavy manner. Her approach to vocals continues to expand the well-layered vocal harmonies. The harmonies are more prominent in the mix time, adding more depth in the absence of more Rock-oriented instrumentation. 

This album is packed with the kind of haunting ballads, best heard drinking absinthe and smoking pot poolside for Hot Ghost Summer. This is the same season she seems to be singing about on “Bad Dream Summer Time.” There is a slight fifties Pop feel to the otherwise lonesome western sound. The guitar takes things in a more Folk direction for “You Called Her Camellia.” Yet the more pining twang of country ambiance colors things with a longing ambiance.

The faint rumble of a low-end frequency anchors “Smoke Screen Selene” creating a hypnotic drone that her vocals wander around over. The guitars are more layered for the title track. “It’s An Illusion” might as well be from the soundtrack to a David Lynch movie; aside from its more pastoral depression, there is a mysterious quality to the surreal, dreamy quality it invokes. 

“Hatchet Man” is the lead single which tells a more defined story without being overdramatized. “Light Years” finds the vocals taking on an even lighter croon. Her singing causes the whole song to feel like clouds are descending from a starlit sky. Her breathy vocal delivery allows some of the lyrics to stand out in this song.

The song title ‘Weightlessness Above The Water” is a fitting description of what the song sounds like, though the scene feels like it is set at night. Even more fragile is “To Be The Moon King.” It feels more like a Folk song. The mood is somewhat uniform on this album, with subtle shifts in the stylistic change from song to song, but it is consistent in what she does. She brings emotions similar to longing and melancholy to life with the sound she uses.

This album takes a few listens before some of the nuanced sounds click with your ears; otherwise, you are overtaken by the hypnotic lull of her voice. Nadler continues to fine-tune a sound she has been perfecting for the past nine years. There are no surprises for longtime fans, but more of what they have grown to love from her. She is not pandering with Hip-Hop beats to win over Lana Del Rey fans, but is making music for people who take medication for depression rather than just post on social media about it. In this way, she has some common ground with Noah Cyrus’ new album, but that is where her comparisons to mainstream music ends. Instead, Marissa Nadler succeeds in her continuation in creating ethereal Folk for the twilight hours. 

Buy the album here:
https://lnk.to/NewRadiations

9 / 10
WIL CIFER
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