Live Review: Nocturnal Tapes delivers a bit of everything in their debut EP, 'Visions IV'

How does one manage to integrate a dozen genres into one project? It’s a hard question but an easy one to answer when you listen to NOCTURNAL TAPES debut EP, Visions IV.

There’s a bit of house, a bit of tech, there’s some psych and a pinch of rock; it’s also experimental, perhaps there’s even some disco. Whatever the case, the new EP displays the untried sounds and talents of the Yamba hailing duo, and is an insight into the transformative nature of emerging Australian music. With these new sounds, it is also no surprise that the duo have been compared to other talented artists such as Tame Impala, Jagwar Ma and The Presets, all of which are devoid to the simplicities of conforming to genre, instead opting for experimentation.

The EP starts off upbeat, with ‘All I Need’ and ‘Wake Up’ serving as odes to rock, disco and late 90’s house. In fact ‘Wake Up’, the second track off the EP, seems to find influence (unofficially) from ‘Sweet Child of Mine’ by Guns N’ Roses and ‘Everybody’s Free (To Feel Good) by Rozalla. This is an immersive mix and provides a welcome throwback to late 90’s club music.

‘Is It Too Late’ channels RUFUS, specifically their track ‘Take Me’. It’s cool, incorporates indie-dance and sounds like summer. I’m guessing this will be a favourite for upcoming festivals.

The EP then takes a turn, the last two tracks slowing things down. ‘Close My Eyes’ and ‘All Night’, though still holding the full, heavy beats and electro-dance theme of the EP, take listeners on the final leg. It tells us that it’s time for close, that it’s the end. The vocals really shine through on these two tracks, especially on ‘Close My Eyes', where they are drawn out and aired out with a pulled back beat.

Visions IV takes the listener on a journey, one that tells a story; ‘All I Need’ is to ‘Wake Up’ but ‘Is it Too Late’? So I’ll ‘Close My Eyes’ and stay ‘All Night’. Maybe it’s a sad story, maybe it’s a nostalgic one, I guess you can decide for yourself, but we know for sure that it is one grounded in talent. As the last track ‘All Night’ says, ‘I'm running out of time’, lyrics to a perfect close.

This has been a busy year for Nocturnal Tapes, who, after having just released this EP, are now on tour with Luke Million. Check them out at the dates below.

TOUR DATES:

JACK RABBIT SLIMS, PERTH

8^th SEPTEMBER

SCU UNI BAR, LISMORE

14^th SEPTEMBER

OXFORD ART FACTORY, SYDNEY

15^th SEPTEMBER

HOWLER, MELBOURNE

16^th SEPTEMBER

WORDS BY JULIE FENWICK

LISTEN TO NEW MUSIC HERE

SEE MORE:

NOCTURNAL TAPES CAN GET YOU DANCING WITH SINGLE 'IS IT TOO LATE?'

PREMIERE: NOCTURNAL TAPES RELEASE 'PIECES' AND TOUR DATES