Drop Nineteens – ‘Hard Light’ album review: the most distilled offering yet
Drop Nineteens, undoubtedly one of the most lauded yet questionably overlooked acts of 1990s alternative rock, return after nearly 30 years away. Tags such as ‘shoegaze-adjacent’ sell the group short, given that their music is an intricate patchwork of influences. On their long overdue third album, Hard Light, the Boston legends have reaffirmed why they were so celebrated in the first place and created what might go down as their most distilled offering.
Drop Nineteens was always a collaborative project, with each member bringing something vital to the fold. On the new record, this fluid collective spirit has never been more healthy, with members Steve Zimmerman, Paula Kelley, Motohiro Yasue, and Peter Koeplin all chipping in to create the group’s most alluring sonic world yet. As part of this refinement, frontman Greg Ackell and Kelley’s dovetailing vocals are more compelling and emotionally affecting than ever.
Hard Light sees the band explore their sonic parameters in much more forensic detail, fully realising the dreamlike palette they first lathered on to the airwave canvas back in 1992. In the press material, Ackell explains that his primary motivation for getting the quintet back together was to see what they would sound like after all this time. Hard Light is Drop Nineteens for the contemporary era, an age that they were always signalling all those years ago.
If tracks like ‘Kick the Tragedy’ and ‘Winona’ from Delaware evoke emotions that every young adult experiences with full-frontal intensity, Hard Light channels the more restrained emotions of adulthood. Here, time and experience have done what they do best: creating a more comprehensive yet naturally wistful character.
The record opens with the utterly enchanting title track. As the repetitive echoes of Ackell’s guitar combine with his unmistakable vocals, and Kelley begins to support him, repeatedly singing, “Time is of the essence”, you are gradually eased into the odyssey ahead. The rest of the band then tease their presence, with the images of the past speeding up and whizzing by before the track gradually peters out, and the strong feeling that you’re in for a treat materialises.
Then, as the memories of the past start to fade, you find yourself in a familiar headspace to those exciting times when you first heard Drop Nineteens. At the commencement of the single ‘Scapa Flow’, the tentative strums of the guitar are reinforced by the droning bass of Steve Zimmerman as the drums and rest of the group kick in, and the fuzzy texture of the second guitar assists in establishing this nostalgic sonic dreamland. There’s also one of the group’s trusty, almost dissonant key changes in the post-chorus, a moment which helps evoke this familiar feeling. Lead guitarist Motohiro Yasue is particularly brilliant and provides artful bouts of shoegazing goodness that many fans will welcome.
Next up is ‘Gal’. Complete with the sliding chimes of the acoustic guitar, a picked bass harmony played high up the fretboard, and Pete Koeplin’s expressive but almost automated drumming. It washes over as Kelley’s vocals fade in between bending spells conjured on Yasue’s guitar. It’s four minutes of layered aural glory that continues the theme of prompting deep contemplation about yesteryear.
There’s a lot on offer on Hard Light, ranging from the muscular post-punk-leaning grooves of other single ‘The Price Was High’ to the acoustic-led tenderness of ‘Lookout’. Remarkably, despite the variety on offer, it all fits comfortably under the Drop Nineteens name, including ‘Tarantula’, which is undoubtedly the most conventional piece of indie rock found on the record and stands out the most because of that fact. Being able to explore themselves in a more detailed way than before while not over-stretching is a triumph in itself.
Undoubtedly, however, the finest juncture is the closing track ‘T’. Nearly seven-and-a-half minutes of musical splendour, the track is coloured by the cyclical nature of Motohiro Yasue’s riff and the power of Ackell and Kelley’s vocal cooperation. The perfect soundtrack for when gliding above the clouds in an aeroplane, the song is in no hurry. It slowly builds to a glistening climax where all the elements – from the warm bass to the various guitar textures – converge as Drop Nineteens resoundingly signal their return.
It’s not easy to make a return as a rock band. Unless you were filling stadiums before your split, chances are the cult following you once had is desperate for a reversal of time that you’re not capable of. To go back to the sounds of their youth and revel in them once more. Like a perfect autumnal day, the trick Drop Nineteens has pulled off is delivering this golden-hued hug of nostalgia while also providing the same breath of fresh air that made them so enticing in the first place.
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