Album: N.E.R.D. - Seeing Sounds

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Experimental music… it’s something you seldom encounter in mainstream music; that is, of course, unless it’s N.E.R.D.. It has been five years since the release of their last album, Fly Or Die, but Pharrell, Chad and Shae have brought back their original sounds with the synesthesia inspired title Seeing Sounds. In case you are wondering what synesthesia is… well, just wiki it. After all, we are exploring the musical experiments of N.E.R.D., not those behind the psychological phenomenon that gave name to their album.

Those who have always loved the alternative rock/funk/hip hop/soul sound that has defined N.E.R.D. over the years will definitely be in for a treat with this release and will find that the more experimentation you can appreciate, the more you will like this album. It is rich in great instrumentation especially with the funky bass lines found on Time For Some Action, the cool riffs of Laugh About It or the smooth guitar solo in Sooner Or Later. You will also come across a good number of jazz fusion samples throughout Seeing Sounds with some electro elements, so this big fat mash-up has a bit of something for everybody. Most songs are also lyrically radio-friendly, and very energetic, so the audience can pretty much be universal.

But despite how musically creative these guys can be, for better or for worse, one cannot help but look into the lyrics found in most songs of this album and truly stand in that LONG “Producers should stay at the boards and away from the mics” line. Creative they may be on occasion, but nothing to be in awe of – even though they do sing for half of it, Pharrell’s voice isn’t always mic-friendly. Also, though the following tracks don’t sound too bad, they are not of regular N.E.R.D. flavour; these are Kill Joy and Anti-Matter. They go into a Red Hot Chili Peppers trance with the former (yet it does have a nice short percussion interlude), and a bad Lil’ Jon antic with the latter accompanied by painful vocal loops. We were after creativity, but biting someone else’s style is not that creative and can, frankly, be quite annoying.

It is safe to say that a liking for N.E.R.D.’s music can be described as an acquired taste, so the polarity between sweet and sour will be pretty wide with this album – in other words, it is more or less a ‘love it or hate it’ album. None of the tracks top their huge hit She Wants To Move, but some come pretty close, save for some others which can put some weight on the ears and may make you want to ‘Chopper’ them. Also, it would have been nicer for some of their other associated acts such as Kenna to make an appearance on the album to add to the creative input.

Available through Interscope Records