The nearly 10-minute long behemoth "Three Sides of Nazareth" is a dark, bristling testament to Jaar's brash movements away from the more deconstructed, humble 2011 Space is Only Noise, serving as a sophomore album-cum-political statement for the young producer. Where samples of gently running water and subdued French film dialogue once stood, gritty industrial bursts of noise and wailing children now overlay quicker, more ominous electronic progressions grounded by a beat best described as urgent and primal.
While lengthy and convoluted, not a single second of the track seems superfluous or repetitive; what would have been a sensory onslaught in the hands of a less skilled composer turns into an artfully layered, iridescent plight of cryptic storytelling when under the direction of Nicolas. As potent and demanding as the track's more outspoken bits may be, so they are balanced by quiet interludes featuring pianos, crooning vocals, or nothing but a baseline.
Jaar has always maintained a no-nonsense dark streak, which manifested as the ethereally surreal downtempo atmosphere of Space is Only Noise, but has come into its own as an angrier, unforgivingly violent yet masterfully polished homage to his Darkside era with Dave Harrington.
Indeed, you would be forgiven for thinking that Trent Reznor was behind the boards on this one -- not only because of the scathing industrial overlays, but because you could easily attribute the work to someone with two more decades of experience.
SIMILAR SONGS
