Nap Eyes is a four-piece from Halifax, Nova Scotia with a very interesting songwriting process. Each song begins with a twenty-minute free form of vocals and guitar from lead singer Nigel Chapman. It is then whittled down by the rest of the band before finally becoming the song that is put on an album. While that formula is intact on the band’s fourth album, Snapshot of a Beginner the finished product has a lot more polish than past albums. Whereas their debut album Whine of the Mystic was done in a room with no overdubs, Snapshot of a Beginner was recorded at The National’s Long Pond Studio with producers Jonathan Low and James Elkington. The result is a far more polished and larger sound than albums past.
Aptly named opening track “So Tired” starts the album off with a refined sound that highlights how much the band has grown in their songwriting. The reverb-heavy steel guitar and Chapman’s lethargic sounding vocals bring to mind influences like Mojave 3 and Son Volt. Even though the opening track is one of the best songs on the album, there are still a few more highlights throughout. “Mystery Calling” stands out with its slow churning psych-rock with Chapman’s introspective lyrics about distractions while songwriting perfectly placed in the song. The band has another great track with the understated songs “When I Struck Out On My Own,” which has a laid back tempo that gels nicely with Chapman’s mellow vocals and steel guitar. The ambition in the group is clear on the seven-minute “Real Thoughts,” which combines lush psychedelia sprinkled with a bit of punk and folk. The only downside of songs like “Mark Zuckerburg” and “Dark Link” is that Chapman’s vocal inflections often sound like John Linnell of They Might Be Giants, which makes the songs lyric sound more sarcastic and less poignant.
The band are working with the clearest sound they’ve ever used, and they fill it out wonderfully. Fans of Nap Eyes will appreciate the subtle evolution of the band’s sound over their four albums. Snapshot of a Beginner feels like a true culmination of the sounds they have been playing with over the past three albums. The Lo-fi of Whine of the Mystic, the psychedelic style of Thought Rock Fish Scale and the up-tempo indie rock of I’m Bad Now have all come together on their new album.
Photo Credit: Alex Blouin & Jodi Heartz
