My original review was only 300 words long, but NOFACE can’t be summed up in only 300 words, because he is as complex as he is prolific.
Los Angeles’ N8NOFACE doesn’t seem to like to be held down. For ten years now, the frantic, energized artist has given a plethora of wow moments as an aggressive counterpoint to whatever the mainstream latched onto. That hyper-aggression has served him well. Last year’s Missed Connections had N8 leaning harder into his synthpunk impulses, with shimmery assists from the likes of H09909 and the spectacular Sextile. It’s hard to pin him down, and he seems comfortable not being perceived. For its effort, Missed Connections should have been covered here, and wherever else folks take music seriously, but it fell off my radar, unfortunately, and was left as its namesake.
While missing that opportunity, I fell pretty hard for Soft Kill’s Metta World Peace. Sad and weary street music, especially post punk, is probably something I’ll always cherish, because it’s a genre that has wonderful artists consistently doing wonderful things. One particular reason I fell in love with that release was N8NOFACE’s feature on “Veil of Pain”.
On paper I couldn’t work out how he would fit into a Soft Kill track knowing the respective areas of the spectrum each artist lands. Tobias makes sad downtrodden ballads, while N8 turns the energy to exhaustive levels, and pushes through with a very cathartic and hyper violence that doesn’t ever seem to slow down. No one sounds like N8NOFACE out there, and for that track he didn’t either.
Exchanging all of his aggression and violence for a gruff and gravelly back alley crooner sounded absolutely amazing. So much that I mentioned it twice as bright spot on that album here at Everything Is Noise. I begged and hoped for N8 to drop a full album with this newfound sound, what we got in return was an EP, four tracks clocking in at 9 minutes of spectacular street wise introspection.
Each track on View From Here works almost as a proof of concept of future whole LPs he could explore. There’s a dirty production gothy dance track, an innocent and vulnerable street folk cut, a death rock downtrodden ballad, and a midnight power anthem all packaged with some beautiful cover art. All of it sounds fresh and earnest, dripping with authenticity.
It’s really hard to pick a favorite out of these four tracks, but if I had to pick, my heart is allured by either “Everything Connects to You” or “View From Here”. Those two simply promise bigger things, and deliver on the back end. The energy just feels locked in and carries throughout with clarity. That’s not to say anything against “Hold” and “Never Learned”, but the production and vocal approach for each just go a different direction.
With this being his first installment in a ‘1 EP a month’ project that will cover all genres, N8NOFACE has grabbed onto a new sound that suits him well. While his output as the bonkers MC that he is has been prolific, as will be his new project, he seems to have taken his time and consideration shifting gears into a more smooth and comfortable avenue with these four tracks. It’s locked me in, and has me down for the ride, wherever we go.
It’s important to cherish artists like N8NOFACE. The anarchistic spirit that has him slashing any tethers to a pigeonhole is what artists should strive for. While, upon first introduction, I thought N8 was a prolific punkrap powerhouse, he has proved me wrong with every single click I make deeper into his discography. N8 knows no bounds, and isn’t bothered with any restraints the mainstream has for artists. He releases what he wants, when he wants, which is all the time, and all of it is fucking amazing. In a digital age that provides so many unique artists providing unique art, N8NOFACE stands out amongst the crowd as he’s always 7 steps ahead and absolutely providing engaging, enthralling, cathartic, authentic music that will keep you guessing every step of the way. I’m already looking forward to another round.
