Nomotion – Abide (2021)
The feeling of the strange times we have lived through seep through the tracks of Abide by Nomotion. With a blending of musical influences, the band has you thinking about the last year and processing everything we have all been through together. Fusing rock with darkwave, gothic and post-punk tones, they keep you hooked to the EP from start to finish.
With lockdowns and closed borders, the EP took longer than Jonny Bergman (vocals, acoustic guitar), Lorenzo Della Rovere (drums, guitar), Andrea De Colle (piano, Hammond, synths), Alessio De Colle (bass) and Eros Piani (electric guitar) thought it would. Now that it has been unleashed on the world, it shows why the band has shared the stage with greats including The Sade, Messa and Motorama.
The EP opens with ‘Blooming and Dooming’ grabs your attention with a mix of rock and gothic tones. There is a soaring feeling to the melody that is also somewhat dark and sombre. Bergman’s vocals enhance the dark wave vibe of the music as he draws you into the lyrics. Through his performance, tendrils of inky darkness grasp at your ankles and threaten to pull you into the ether. There are moments of lighter feelings when the instrumentation picks up only to drop for the vocals.
‘Something Out There’ continues the blending of tones that captivate the senses in the opening track. However, there is a more ominous feeling to the vocals as they echo out of the depths. The vocals have a creeping sensation running across your shoulders before the instruments start to crash against your ears. While there is a darkness to the music, the piano line offers a break in the clouds and lets some light shine through. The interplay of light and dark is masterfully handled in this track.
The delicate tones that open ‘Out of the Blue’ is a reprieve after the pressure of emotions in the last tracks. There is a seriously melancholic feeling to the vocals as they gently float over the piano. This turns into an almost nostalgic vibe that has your brain thinking about moments long gone. While softer than the tracks that came before, this song has a heavy emotional hit that builds as the single progresses. The vibrations of the guitars do bring a touch of the dark only for this to be chased by the easy vibes.
‘Contradiction’ has an almost epic Western feeling to it like the sun shining over a vast desert. The vocals add to this feeling as they seem to call out to you from the horizon and beckon you to journey to them. As the name suggests, there is a contradiction of emotion in the track as you are led to question where emotions are taking you while also giving in to them completely. This contradiction is engaging as it hits the toe-tapping melody in all the right places.
The EP comes to a close with ‘Elizabeth’ which brings a different blend of tones to your ears. While the vocals are back to their darker tones, the melody is an interesting mixture of warbling post-punk and gothic. The backing vocals enhance the gothic vibe of the track before you are sent out into the dark streets of the lyrics. There is an interesting contemplation in the track that has a seriously creepy dark edge that is utterly wonderful to listen to.
Nomotion brings the darker and creeping emotions we have all felt in the last year to life in his EP Abide. Each track brings a new blend of gothic, rock and darkwave showcasing the musicality and creativity of the band.
Find out more about Nomotion on their website, Facebook, Instagram and Spotify.
