Written by Ardi
If you’re looking to spice up your playlist and try something on the unconventional category, Nuclear Powered Apes can be a good start! You may enjoy its creative aspects or you may get bored immediately and change to something else but it is worth a shot.
I would say if you want to familiarize yourself with the type of sound that this album has, check out those infamous “beats to study to / Lo-Fi Hip hop” streams on youtube. The melodies are quite similar to me, sampling of hip-hop beats and repeating it multiple times but NPA is more experimental with those materials. There are some unique elements and instruments added to it which gives the songs more character like “BadnFugly” or “That’sit” with both Dauwan and Leon’s vocals in it. There are a few tracks that could have been edited more like “GatheringData” or “Drakedoesn’tevenknowbrah” which don’t have the same progress of different sounds throughout the whole track.
I couldn’t help but have an eerie feeling listening to this album which is actually a good thing! I haven’t heard any music recently that would evoke such strange emotions in me. Playing the album from track 1 to 14, the whole journey made me feel as if I am standing alone, frozen in time in a surreal world. The artwork for the album captures my feelings quite well. The colors and the abstract drawing is a great representation of the would I imagined myself in.
In overall, it was a thought-provoking experience. It is not an album that I would play while taking the train or while taking a walk but it does work nicely when I need to focus on certain tasks. Check out Nuclear Powered Apes on Spotify and experience the album yourself!
