Nada Surf
The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy
(Barsuk)
Sensitivity is a given for songwriters. But few have the keyed-in empathic scope and cosmic awareness of Nada Surf frontman Matthew Cawes. There’s a bold emotional candor to his songs. But he’s not sappy or whiny. I can’t think of another band that could sing about being moved to tears by a breakdancer on a subway platform without seeming embarrassingly unstable. The band put out an excellent album of cover tunes in 2010, but fans have been awaiting the release of this full-length follow-up to 2008’s wonderful Lucky. Nada Surf makes buoyant power pop with just enough mature sadness to keep the fizz in check. Some of these songs have a compressed aphoristic midlife wistfulness — like “Clear Eye, Clouded Mind” — that would normally be found in more downer musical settings, without the same muscle and melody. Nada Surf is the rare power pop band that could be called wise.
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