“Between II Worlds”Īt seven minutes and 20 seconds long, this is another concept piece. Watson’s lyrics-“We met on a platform at midnight”-gives the idea that this is high-concept, Krautrock-inspired, sort of a modern take on ABBA’s last-ever hit single, 1981’s taciturn “ The Day Before You Came.” This is both gargantuan and beautiful there’s a likely excellence in creating Tommy-style “rock operas” out of their more far-reaching musical leaps. When the slide whistle sneaks into this one a bar before Watson starts singing, the track goes from a meandering open to immediate intrigue. As smart as it is funky, and with Watson’s magical lead vocal, it’s a tune worthy of hit-single status.
With Stephens and Ray at the controls, the key to these songs is that they’re often surgical in precision and direct in inspiration, too. This is what happens when Swedish House Mafia’s progressive house is blended with Disclosure’s UK garage in ideal measure. Songwriting is pushed to the forefront here as the piano house vibe makes this one the possible winner for the album’s most danceable earworm.
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In somehow conveying a sense of height and length, the studio mastery of Stephens and Ray is on full display here.
Rather, the kicks are just there to chop up the pacing, to give the production a subtle sense of movement as it desperately yearns, like Watson, for the ability to find itself and to find love. The bassline is introduced after a 90-second build, but it’s not titanic. The magic of “It Comes and It Goes” is in just how well the track never comes down. For those looking for “Promises” 2.0-and there’s a wide population that certainly is-look no further. This feels like a conscious attempt at making a redux of that hit, as every production trick-from the bassline dropping out for the hook to the subtly hidden kicks in the mix rising up over everything-gives the dubstep feel of the track overwhelming heft. It’s one of their signature skills, and it’s what made the aforementioned “Promises” so great.
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Impressively enough, Nero’s figured out how to work dub-reggae swing into pop dubstep. And the builds here are constructed to open more space for bigger vocal runs, underlining a pair of producers who understand the intricacies of properly working with a vocalist.
The way it’s allowed to weave into the production itself makes it a far more melodic tool.
The searing synths and undulating bassline punctuated by a metronomic beat do very little to hide the real star of this track, Watson’s topline vocal. “Circles”īetween II Worlds leads off with “Circles,” a sumptuous, mainstream dance-pop single. Feeling like the first official chapter in a story whose ending is sure to eclipse its already impressive start, this album successfully proves that awfully impressive pop sounds exist beyond dubstep. If looking for an album showcasing depth and surprising breadth of musical skills, this is a must-listen. For what producers Daniel Stephens and Joe Ray can do in a studio, Alana Watson proves more than able to equal behind a microphone. Now over a decade into their career, Nero’s message on this album is clear: They’re more than a bass-powered dance act now, and they’re attempting to prove themselves capable of being chart-quaking pop stars. After winning a Grammy for their remix collaboration with Skrillex on “ Promises,” vocal-driven dubstep trio Nero returns with their second artist album, Between II Worlds.