Slow is the Opposite of Quick

In the unabridged dictionary of Nits idioms, Strawberry Wood could be the antonym of New Flat. Perhaps. Creativity comes and goes like ebb and flow. And phases of doubt and status quo are only natural. I wrote down some loose impressions on both of these albums in this slightly irreverent article of these two very different Nits records. (I think listening to “New Flat” has brought on my somewhat bold, naughty mood.) It’ll be a welcome intermezzo in between the more serious texts. And I hope it’ll spur some of you to share your opinion on these works. I will not hide from you that “New Flat” is my favourite of these two albums, by far; I think that the in-blue-styled album is simply brilliant in its particular moment in time and in the history of Nits. “Strawberry Wood” versus “New Flat” is also calm versus nervous; alert versus dozing off; it is looking back versus looking forward.

It seems to me that Nits felt a bit nervous arriving at this new flat, the whole album is full of this sort of nervously new energy. The energy of new beginnings. Right from the start of the album, the engine is tested and it rolls, well, more than smoothly, Nits fly off with a big roar. And their engine stays in brilliant form throughout, still far away from the garage check-up they might have needed after such a long, superb and outstanding “parcours” before strolling down the path to “Strawberry Wood”. Their musical energy could have brought them to the moon and back, even Mars seemed within reach of their boisterous talent . I like this record. It’s inventive; there’s nothing they don’t wanna try out. Now, I’m not a guitar girl, but in this new flat, it is my favourite piece of furniture. And Nits are definitely in a futuristic mood with the sound of clever robotics that fills the interior. “New Flat” is just a cracking piece of a building with a beautifully engineered statuesqueness and a fabulous sound system created by an artful music intelligence. It’s full of gorgeous songs. “Holiday on Ice” has one of those startling beginnings that are immediately to the point, straight into the living room so to speak. And the album is chock-full of intriguingly beautiful transitions within the song compositions: in “Different Kitchen” for instance, where the energy retreats for a while for a more subdued conversation between the instruments, or in “Bobby Solo”, where Henk’s hunkering for a more melodious rêverie is heard in “He’s on the terrace wearing yellow shirts”, and the beat that takes over near the end of “Zebra” is very ingeniously done. There is a lot of compositional imagination in “Statue” and “Office at night” which translates beautifully the play of light and darkness, and the forlornness and estrangement felt in a world of sterile buildings after hours. But the bountiful source of energy Nits seem to possess on this album is also at times sublimated in a delicate creativeness of pointillistic melodies such as “His First Object”, a favourite of mine which reminds me somewhat of the albeit very different song “Departure” on “Strawberry Wood”. Yes, Nits will always be Nits ; throughout their whole career, they will continue to produce those typical miniatures of tactile, objectified sounds. “New Flat” ends with the sly sound of “Aloha drums” in a sort of snake dance, a wonderful transformation of positive energy into music. The album is an excellent occasion, by the way, for lots of crazy dance moves. It’s a great pity that I missed those early concerts, I would have danced my heart out.

“Strawberry Wood” is a lot more fluently sounding, flowing on a stream of consciousness remembering the past. The staccato impatience and enthusiasm from “New Flat” are far gone. Nits is still a well oiled machinery even on autopilot, but they seem to lack a bit of inspiration revisiting their Liverpudlian predecessors. It’s as if they feel melancholic about their art, about their music for the first time. They question their lust for making music, they hang on to a past which is often somber and gloomy. They feel sleepy, somnolent, they balance on well known rhythms that can only lead to retrospection, or a careful, superficial introspection of who they have become. There is a sense of history, of the passing of time, in the world they have lived in, – the bigger world far away and the intimate family circle close by – and they glide through it with an uninspired melancholia, which, maybe for the first time in their oeuvre, holds more desolation and resignation than beauty and hope. They seem to feel at a distance from their own selves, losing their vivacious selves in somewhat monotonous, spiceless sounding pop. In fact the sometimes listless tunes of this album make me sad.  Not the beautifully blue sadness though of “Ting” . 

But there are still moments of refound creativity. There is their sweet little philosophy of time in “The Hours” that ticks away, softly guided by Rob’s perfect timekeeping. The harmonic goodbye-song “Departure” is also a beautiful homage and a heartfelt saying hello goodbye to their much adored music family. I also like the joyous nonchalance of “Nick in the House of John,” and especially the insouciance and the casualness with which Rob seems to play his drums; it reminds me very much of the cool and laid-back way of playing the drums that is so typical of Ringo (listen and watch him play in “Hello Goodbye”, just sublime!). The little fine tail at the end of “The Index of First Lines” is also such a nice reminder of previous fabulousness. And if only they could reprise like they do in the ever green, fresh “Tannenbaum”: “and they’re green when winter snow // when winter snow is white”, such a powerful caesura and repeat; this rhythmical pause sounds like a much needed interval from which you can rise up once more. Exactly what they might have needed… 

The accompanying video of “Office at Night” shows off Nits’ observant and adventurous musicianship in between order and chaos… I saw them perform this song in the small AB Club in Brussels and I was really very impressed by it and by many of the other songs played during that “First Ten Years” concert. Those first ten years with albums like “New Flat” would turn out to be the solid, creative foundation for prowess of one of the most monumental pop establishments ever…

Joke Roelandt, August 2019