REVIEW: Lower Dens - Nootropics

Lower Dens - Nootropics
MMM1/2

A nootropic is an enhancer, a substance that improves mental functions such as cognition, memory, intelligence, and concentration. The second full-length album from Baltimore’s own Lower Dens acts in much the same manner as its namesake, dealing in ebbs and flows of distinct, persuasive textures and moods rather than pop hooks and formulaic predictability. It’s a catalyst for reflection, evocative and chillingly hypnotic at its core.

Nootropics is not immediate, nor does it have a sense of urgency to it. Lower Dens never drift far from the meditative pacing that serves to underscore, or strengthen, the album’s pensive sound. It’s filled with a subdued tension throughout, which makes the album’s austere yet dreamy landscape all the more real and intriguing. Songs like the steady, fluid, and expansive “Brains” and the icy, mysterious “Candy” aren’t quite linear or uniform, inviting the listener to take in each second, each note, as if it was just as important as the last. Lower Dens make Nootropics a soundtrack for a trip through the subconscious as they move from upbeat, carnivalesque (“Stem”) to darker, creeping moments (“The End Is The Beginning”). It’s an album filled with twists and turns built upon a fusion of ambient, prog, psych, folk, and dream pop.

And while Nootropics may be an intriguing journey of texture and mood, its sonic meandering will undoubtedly leave some feeling as though they’re floating without an anchor. This is an album that tugs on your ears to sink beneath the surface – not to listen, but to feel. There are certainly discernable melodies in songs such as “Alphabet Song” and “Propagation,” but it’s easy to get lost if you don’t stick with it. Lower Dens take a charming minimalistic approach to crafting ambitious, entrancing soundscapes; this is a band you feel more than simply hear.

As singer Jana Hunter’s vocals acting as a guide through Nootropics waves of synths and guitar atmospherics, Nootropics takes its time to blossom into something mystifyingly gorgeous. It's an album that reveals its wonders after a few listens, becoming increasingly profound as time passes; this is a perfect example of an album that "grows" on you. Lower Dens still have some room to grow and tighten up their sound as they hone their overall direction, but Nootropics will undoubtedly be one of 2012’s most magically challenging records.

Nootropics is out today in Europe and out tomorrow in the U.S. via Ribbon Music.

Lower Dens - "Brains" from Nootropics