Nedry - In A Dim Light

Two years since the release of ‘Condors’ in 2010, London-based trio Nedry have returned, having lost none of the flurry of excitement or beautifully realised soundscapes that have come to define them. ‘In A Dim Light’ is the band’s second collection of material, one that shows how their knack for creating painstakingly crafted songs has not diminished, and one that revels in its synergy of restrained dub, driving electronics and ethereal vocals.

Together Nedry is the aftermath of a sprawling amalgamation of electronic genres and sounds. While they’ve been entrapped in the blurred confines of the murkily-titled genres of post-dubstep, dark electro-pop and post-trip hop, what Nedry succeed in doing is taking individual characteristics of various electronic styles and merging them together to create something thoroughly modern. We’re not talking Enter Shakari here: rather an assimilation of the older elements of Portishead, Massive Attack, Lamb and ‘Medulla’-era Bjork.

In fact, the Bjork similarities do not end there, for the interchangeable vocals of Ayu Okakita are also often extremely similar in both tone and volume. Yet unlike other artists who also draw direct comparisons to Bjork, Okakita’s voice has a certain range and depth that backs this claim up. Notable encounters on the album include ‘Post Six’, where Okakita’s vocals shine most thoroughly in the higher registers of its breathy chorus, before her voice becomes dissonant and unsettling towards the song’s end, and ‘TMA’ where her shouts and an audible sense of aggression show off Okakita’s vocal variance. Indeed her vocals are at the very heart of all that Nedry create, so much so that there’s not a single instrumental track on the record, unlike the presence of ‘Scattered’ on their debut.

Yet while it’s Okakita’s voice that is usually at the fore once all Nedry’s instrumentation comes together, it is nothing without the complex layers of MPC, laptops, guitars and synths upon which her voice is painted across. Awash with fuzz and crackle, and replete with thuds of sub bass, growling ever deeper, ‘In A Dim Light’ is multi-textured, ambient, and contributes an alternative mode of modern dance music. It’s grand and sweeping, yet held back: continually withdrawing during the climatic moments that you’re certain are set to explode. It’s restrained – particularly in comparison to their energetic live performances – yet it’s far from quiet, and it’s this restraint that gives the record an edge of direct suspense while subverting directional expectations.

While at first it would appear that each song is similar in its approach and structure, particularly in the repetitive background of beats upon which the melodies and vocals are pinned, after repeated listens this illusion of structure crumbles. Album opener ‘I Would Rather Explode’, washed in a continual dull thudding in the background – a technique that comes to characterise and soundtrack the entire record – never really reaches the peak in volume that you’re expecting. In contrast, ‘Havana Nights’, with its euphoric and upbeat introduction – which sounds similar to label mates 65daysofstatic’s latest guise – throws in unexpected thuds and twitches amongst its chant-like vocals, slamming the notion of there being a typical sound or style in Nedry’s approach to song writing and performance.

Album standout, the seven-minute ‘Float’, begins with soft, almost inaudible vocals, before Okakita’s powerful alto rises and resonates. In a richly layered tempest of sound where one has to work hard to decipher lyrics, ‘Float’ relishes its repetitive choral message: “You and I under the stars/ In the flash millions of lights,” its lyrics suitably mysterious and sprawling. Although Nedry’s typical extended song lengths have been slightly shortened in places – take ‘Dust Til Dawn’ at only 3.10 minutes – it succeeds in making their sound tighter and more cohesive. Yet it’s these longer tracks that allow each mood to be created, every song to take shape, building the tone and atmosphere before it washes into the next, and this is a key component that hasn’t been compromised.

Complex, and replete with glitches, slow beats and breakdowns, ‘In A Dim Light’ is as captivating as ‘Condors’, yet with an evident sense of renewed direction and focused calm and quietude. In a live environment ‘In A Dim Light’ is sure to snarl and become a very different beast indeed, but for now the 11 tracks encapsulated within the record are worth savouring for the unfolding hushed beauty that they are.