The Notwist - Close to the Glass

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            Dan walked in last Thursday, and after we exchanged our usual greetings, he immediately proceeded to walk over to the vinyl racks to see if we got in The Notwist’s new album.  He looked at me with excitement that comes about when he is sincerely curious about something new.  I could tell he had no preconceived notions of what it would be.  Dan is a musical jedi.  He is most akin to (in terms of music taste) Obi Wan Kenobi, he is open minded, but can see the “truth” of subjectivity “from a certain point of view”.  If he told me to go to the Dagobah system to train with Yoda I would.  Circumstances however, have landed me at the writers desk, so you all get to deal with my 11^th grade grasp of the English language and lackluster sentence structure.  Now! The Notwist-Close to the Glass.

            The album begins with an array of quiet electronic noises, gliding into glitches and melodic circuit bending.  As it takes shape, the sound coalesces into a sparse but beautiful surrounding for the understated vocal track.  Notwist manages to build those glitches into the sonic backbone of the track. They are even basing the key signature off the initial sounds (which if isolated wouldn’t make sense).  But by the time spaced out Rhodes, reversed/swelled string(ish) sounds, and what appear to be room sounds (perhaps of them dropping pieces of wood or perhaps electrical cable in time to the drums) are layered into the mix, they act as one to provide a textural aura that surrounds their melodic focal point.

            This is an album to listen to through headphones, and a rewarding one at that. I noticed so many gorgeous subtleties to each track on “Close to the Glass”.  To me, this is the first album of 2014 that I am legitimately going to listen to throughout the whole year, and I will definitely be adding it to my collection.  The Notwist takes you for an emotional ride, and if you’re like me, hearing one song will make you crave the album in it’s entirety.  

With such impeccable song craft, “Close to the Glass” is a joy to listen to, will keep you coming back to it to hear all the little details that hooked me.  As spring approaches, “Close to the Glass” is the perfect companion to welcome longer days, drives with the windows down, road trips and reflections on the winter past.

 Get "Close to the Glass" by The Notwist on Vinyl!