Nedry - Condors Album Review & Photo Gallery - REDEFINE magazine - music art film journalism

The instant I heard the opening track and single off Nedry’s debut album, Condors, I was excited. I began promoting it on a personal level, sharing it with all my friends with even a remote interest in electronic-influenced music. As far as I was concerned, Nedry were smart and deserving of attention. With the single, “A42”, they took the initiative of incorporating the popular fad of dubstep rock music, creating a hybrid that is not just uncommon, but surprisingly effective.

Released on Monotreme Records

Nedry @ The Social, London, UK – Photography by Sebastien Dehesdin

The first two tracks, “A42” and “Apples & Bears,” contain the aforementioned dubstep influences. The vocals of Ayu Okakita sprinkle into the tracks in traditional female-fronted downtempo manner, and recollections of Daughter Darling or Crustation come to mind. This is Nedry’s soft side — not one-dimensional, but definitely low and groovy, and punctuated by sleight-of-hand and wicked electronic layering. But this is just one of their many sides.

Listen to “A42” – DOWNLOAD MP3

“Four Layers Of Pink” and “Scattered” show another side of Nedry. These largely instrumental songs come off a bit like segues and transitons, but they’re much more than just fluff; they bridge one divergent kind of music to another in style. For example, the ambient “Four Layers Of Pink” opens up to the strangely-titled “Squid Cat Battle,” a hectic track in which Okakita’s vocals are the centerpiece. They begin nonchalantly and build to the point where they sound like sirens emerging from a background of drums, bass, and droning electronic noise.

“Condors,” the title track, opens with insistent percussion and a sliding bass riff that absolutely dominates the atmosphere when present. The song soon splashes into watery tribal beats and sexy panting vocals that give it an almost new agey vibe. Yet, this calming introspection lasts on a minute, and the song soon bursts back to life with raucous percussion and bass domination. Its stylistic shifts are sudden, yet stray from feeling awkward.

Though buried beneath layers of experimentation and a deceiving electronic facade, pop-structured songs prevail on Condors. It is a framework that allows for Nedry to change between genres loosely and smoothly, shifting from dark to light and urgent to relaxed, on short notice.

Condors was released in the UK two months prior to its release in the United States. It has already received some rave reviews abroad; let’s just hope that the public States-side is smart enough to catch on.