Nosound - Sol29

Artist: Nosound

Album: Sol29

Release 2005

“I remember you, watching through the window”

We’ve all had at one point in our lives where emotions have gotten the better of us. A time where we threw caution to the wind and raced blindly after our desires. Sometimes that gamble pays off and we gain what we so desperately wanted. And sometimes, we don’t. I think of the latter when I listen Nosound’s debut record, Sol29. It’s a somber, the-morning-after affair that speaks right to the emotional core of us all. Playing like if Pink Floyd collaborated with Brain Eno, Sol29 is a rather low-key record. Spacey guitars intermixed with mellow keys create an atmosphere that allows the listener to forget the troubles of their lives. Add in mainman Giancarlo Erra’s sobering, straight-from-the-diary style lyrics about lost loves and forlorn relationships and we have a record that is liable to make its listener cry. There seems to be an overarching theme lyrically relation to the idea of loss. It’s as if a person wakes up to find the person they thought would be beside them isn’t. It’s this kind of crushing brutality is portrayed in each song on this record. An empty bed. A missed encounter. A lost love. What image can better represent this kind of record then an abandoned bench. The cover(s) of both the original 2005 out of print release and the recent reissue both show an empty bench surrounded by a stark and lonely looking environment. These images could almost be the core of what we regard as being human. We sit at out park bench waiting for that much fabled chance encounter that may never come. Nosound manages to capture this sad fact of life on Sol29. And while the original cover has a much happier looking image, it still shows an empty place waiting to be filled. Personally, I prefer the reissue’s cover to the originals. In a way, it’s a bit more honest than the original and I for one appreciate that. This was a very hard record for me to listen to. It brought up a lot of memories from my younger, more ignorant years. Some of these memories I’ve never really gotten over. But with this album I was able to revisit these memories with a more mature perspective and accept the fact that everyone has done foolhardy things in the name of passion. Sol29 is easily the most honest album I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing. And its not one I’ll soon forget.