Indie rock band Mother Mother are set to release their 10th studio album “Nostalgia” this Friday, the 6th of June, as part of their 20th anniversary celebration! Announced with the release of the single “Make Believe”, the new album has been described as a nod to the past that touches on the sound of the band’s earlier days. Frontman Ryan Guldemond has said in a statement: “In creating ‘Nostalgia’, our goal was to embody a childlike creativity which often becomes elusive as we age and gather too many tricks.”
He continued, “We evaluated every creative choice by its emotional impact – whether that was a lyric, a reverb trail or an EQ curve. If something didn’t evoke a strong emotional reaction – we let it go. This approach led to work we genuinely love and take pride in.”
For me, this is an album that needs to be listened to from start to finish which is something that I did, often, over the course of writing this review. The transitions between tracks aren’t seamless, exactly, but definitely smooth, and though each song brings something new to the table, the actual tone of the album feels consistent. It’s a very fresh but deeply nostalgic (no pun intended) journey filled with mysticism and self introspection, with plenty of those fun wordplays and layered harmonies that make a great Mother Mother song on show.
The first track, “Love to Death”, is a previously unreleased fan favorite that originally leaked in 2009, and a potentially dangerous gamble for the band. Kicking off an album that promises more than a nod to your early work with a song that literally comes from your earlier days is an interesting and bold choice that could have pretty easily backfired on them. Putting the older sound on full display, right there for people to look back to as they continue through the newer music is brave in itself, but most especially when it’s a song that has garnered something of a cult following from unofficial uploads over the years. Of course, I’ve listened all the way through by now, so spoiler alert: “Love to Death” doesn’t feel out of place in any way, which I think is pretty impressive. It’s dark, it’s addictive, it’s a perfect opening – the choice to release it here and now is cocky and confident, and that’s for good reason.
“Make Believe”, the aforementioned single that announced the new album, builds really well. It’s fast paced, energetic and unexpectedly philosophical. Everything slows down a bit for the transition into the more gentle “Station Wagon”, which was an early favorite of mine, and just like that, we speed up again immediately for “ON AND ON (Song for Jasmin)”. This is a super catchy, super intense love song that is rich with passion and already feels really familiar, in a great way. Where “Make Believe” is almost childish in theme and “Station Wagon” is hypnotically reflective, “ON AND ON”, to me, is nostalgic in the way that if it was stripped back it could be a really good, classic garage band song.
It’s fitting that Jasmin Parkin takes the wheel with “Better of Me,” an intense opposite to the previous track, and “Namaste” comes in at just the right time to calm it all down again. Ryan & Molly Guldemond’s harmonies, here, are particularly noteworthy, powerful without being overpowering, and I loved the way it faded out and faded into the crass but effective “FINGER”.
Described as being (just maybe) the ‘long lost sibling’ of “Verbatim”, a song from their debut album, this is really the first example on “Nostalgia” of one of those lyrically absurd tracks that make Mother Mother so unique. It could be nonsense, and it would certainly be easy to take it that way, but on closer inspection it’s pretty matter of fact. Ryan Guldemond himself said, “The song addresses several societal double standards: the stigma surrounding female promiscuity to the celebration of male conquest, the absurdity of the animal class system – why are some creatures considered food while others are viewed as pets? – and the feelings of shame that heterosexual men may experience when exploring sensual pleasures that are not traditionally considered masculine.” As usual, the fans will take the song and run with it however they want. The meaning will be what they decide, but I can see this being a pretty clear fan favorite, regardless of the way that it’s taken.
“Me & You” is an upbeat, romantic track that again, builds really nicely. All of these songs do, but the rhythms and harmonies here are especially enjoyable, almost mesmerising, and it shifts really easily into “little mistake”. These two feel like they go together but are opposites, to me, and are a little contained journey right before we head into “Mano a Mano”, which is very close to being my favorite of the entire album. I did a little research, and from what I could find, “Mano a Mano” is another previously unreleased song that was at one point known as “What Is A Real Man”, and had been tested live a few times. It existed, until now, only in a few unofficial recordings and some forum posts. I still think it’s very brave to throw an older song into a newer mix, and I also still think that it’s really working out for them – it has the recognisable Mother Mother vibe, but it also feels really fresh, and I love the surprise of how it devolves, right at the end.
The title track, “Nostalgia”, sums up everything else in this album really well. It has a great beat and clear, concise lyrics that capture the overall mood and theme of everything else in here a little more plainly than some of the other tracks do. If it had ended there, it would’ve been an understandable (if a bit predictable) choice. Instead, the band finished out “Nostalgia” the album with “To Regret”, which is a stripped back, tragic sort of ballad that is miles more effective at capturing the wistfulness of nostalgia, the emotion. “I lose so much time to regret,” it says, which is an extremely relatable human condition. Then, later on, “But who would I be with no regrets? I wouldn’t be me with no regret.” And who would be, really? It’s sad, but true, same as the song that ended up being my personal standout.
“Nostalgia” is a fantastic album. It’s filled with highs and lows and the promised existential questions and wonderings, and for me, specifically, songs that I kept pronouncing my favorite of the bunch only to turn around a couple songs later and denounce. I’m not a longterm fan of Mother Mother, but I did discover them a good few years ago thanks to a few of their hits going unexpectedly viral, and maybe older fans will disagree, but I think “Nostalgia” is an ode to their past. It feels familiar while avoiding feeling repetitive, and I think it’s a great sign of what’s hopefully to come in their continued future that the old songs blend so well with the new. I’ve been lucky enough to see them live, and knowing that they’re doing a good number of shows this summer, “Nostalgia” has gotten me pretty excited at the prospect of them possibly coming back to our neck of the woods. If they do, I recommend checking them out, but for now, the album will just have to do.
For me, “Nostalgia” gets a 10 out of 10. I really can’t ask for much more than what they gave me!
Reviewer – Rachel Cooney