I have always appreciated the beautiful darkness to be found in art, and the juxtaposition of emotional forces that musicians of certain demeanors can find is something of a deep interest of mine. One such musician that has found a way to straddle both light and dark in an exciting way is Melbourne, Australia’s own Peter Nigido. I cannot say that I am surprised at all that this type of daring music has arrived on the scene from this corner of the world, because Australia is, without a doubt, one of the best birthplaces of music around today, and has been for years.
It is unusual that I find difficulty in placing artists in their respective genre-boxes, but Peter Nigido has not made it easy with his latest emotionally charged EP The Art of Turning a Page.
In the opening moments of the first track Lose Control…Perception 2 it is obvious that Peter Nigido draws his creativity from a vast pool of places. There is industrial to be found here, along with alternative, synth-pop, and dare I say, even gothic elements? It has moments of David Bowie meets Depeche Mode meets A Perfect Circle meets Type O Negative, and all those things mesh very well together as Peter shows us. Lose Control…Perception 2 is both addictive and haunting and will no doubt polarize the audience into those that love it and those that do not understand it, which is how you know that you have created something worth listening to.
The second track Touch comes in devious like something you might hear from Massive Attack. There is a cinematic feel to this song, it is beautiful, it is droning, it is fragile, and it is dangerous; I really can’t suggest any more than I am that you listen to this song on some nice headphones, close your eyes, and let this unique song drag you under. Peter’s voice shines on this single as he shows his range from a low register to an ethereal high range. The instrumentation of this track is brilliant, everything fits together and yet also feels separate from one another, it is an impressive dance of rhythm that is both tribal in its nature and, also, very current.
Two songs into the eclectic EP and there is no sign of slowing down, A New Leaf captures the synthetic madness and beauty expected within the music Peter Nigido provides. A New Leaf may start off brooding and slower paced, but it isn’t long before the drums kick in, the vocals layer one on top of the other and you find yourself swaying with the sound; this song might be a perfect fit for a club daring enough to play it.
I am a sucker for great song title names. Often, they seem like an afterthought for a musician, as if they placed it there because they had to put something down, but that isn’t the case for the fourth song off the EP When It Takes a Child To Prove It.
Seriously, what a title. I feel like I need to sit back and just think about what that means on the larger scale of things. The power and darkness of the instrumental choice and song title are something I would have expected from the mind of Trent Reznor in his Broken days. I am reminded of a song called Help me I am in Hell. I would like to think I understand where Peter is coming from with this song, but since it has no lyrics and only comes in for a few minutes, it is clear that this title and sound clip are meant to cause one to think and draw their own conclusions.
Suck It Up is pure art that would find its place among artists such as Prick and Sleep Token. From the start you think it is going in one direction and then moves you down another unexpected path altogether; it is a daring and exciting song structure that keeps you guessing as to what you can expect next. At just over three minutes in length I would love to hear a version a few minutes longer that focuses on drawing out the epic ending of the song. I found myself putting the song on repeat so that I could keep experiencing the killer way that this song develops. All I can say is “Well done Peter Nigido”.
Sadly, this is an EP and not a full-length album, because I am not ready for this album to come to an end quite yet, and I hope that the final song ‘Turn a Page’ does not disappoint…
Alright, I am back after a few play-throughs and I am happy to report that Peter did not drop the ball! Turn a Page might be the best song on the album, and I say ‘might be’ because I can tell that my favorite song on this darkly exciting EP will change from one to the next depending on my mood. This is clearly the lead single of the EP as it is structured a bit more like one would expect a song to be structured and it reaches just over five minutes in length. The beat hooks you in immediately and Peter has an incredible voice. It would be a shame if I didn’t mention the overall production value of this mini epic, the EP is crisp, clean and well rounded in its sound.
Produced by Peter Nigido himself alongside James Leigh and mixed by James Leigh, Peter Nigido, Michael Zammit and Vince Leigh, The Art of Turning A Page has come together in a beautifully cohesive way considering the amount of hands that have touched the project. I would highly suggest this album to anyone that likes any of the bands that I have mentioned above as well as to anyone that is looking to hear something they have not heard before. This is on my top list of best new Indie releases in 2019, and it would be a shame if you passed it up.
