Review Summary: Space, the final frontier.
In just under a year and a half, Nash J. has written and produced five releases, not counting any splits or compilations. That’s one hell of a feat, especially considering that the quality of his music never wavered during that timespan. But after spending so much time creating ambient, drone-based beats, Nash decided it was time for a departure from his previous work.
Sorry, We’re Closed proves that he’s fully capable of making solid music even out of his comfort zone, and can still do it with the moniker of A Slow Descent.
According to Nash himself, the album was recorded more or less over the course of six months, and it shows. Everything here feels very disjointed and all-over-the-place, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. There’s still that odd, alien presence that flows through the music, as evidenced by the unnerving bassline and ethereal synths in “Shutting Down Shop”, which almost sounds like an extraterrestrial Christmas carol at times. This theme is also followed up in “Closing Shift Lament”, the longest track on the LP, with the synths and piano bearing an uncanny resemblance to an orchestra alongside glitchy, industrial beats in the background. The album as a whole clocks in at around forty-five minutes, which is surprisingly short given how many tracks there are. This works in its favor, though, as it prevents the music from being either too abrupt or too monotonous. The production is still solid, though here it seems slightly hazier as compared to the raw, grating style that came before.
Sorry, We’re Closed ultimately manages to hold its own against the rest of A Slow Descent’s discography, and shows a side of Nash’s songwriting we’ve never seen before. Instead of the claustrophobic, intense ambience that we’ve gotten accustomed to,
Sorry, We’re Closed goes for a more mysterious, almost soothing tone. It’s much more lighthearted and accessible than anything else under the ASD label, and yet it still has the power to satisfy. If there’s anything else that needs to be said about the album, it’s that if you ever get the urge to load up that old Star Wars X-Wing game from the 90s on your computer, make it your soundtrack.
