Marissa Nadler – New Radiations Review

What does Marissa Nadler sound like?

Bluesy, ethereal acoustic folk. Dark and damp.

The review of ‘New Radiations’ by Marissa Nadler

Now on her tenth studio album, Marissa Nadler has found her hazy, dewy, dark yet damp corner of the folk world. Her mix of acoustic and electric guitars, breathy vocals, and classic rock sensibilities makes Marissa’s music a potent mix of familiar tenderness and ethereal gloom. For ‘New Radiations’, things are stripped back to the very core of what Nadler has done for years. It’s a slow-burning, minimalistic collection of bluesy, brooding folk tracks. It’s beautiful, and fans of Nadler’s work will be right at home.

The eleven tracks on the album flow together like one river of consciousness. Some of them bleed into each other when I listen to the album front to back because the slower pace and the similar instrumentation make the songs sound similar. That said, the Hawaiian blues of ‘Bad Dreams Summertime’ shimmers with its uplifting hues hiding under the vocal reverb. ‘You Called Her Camellia’ is like a plains folk song with the twee high register, thin organs, and settlers-waltz acoustic guitar. Elsewhere, the bassy electric piano and minor chords of ‘Smoke Screen Selene’ produce a gothic western vibe, ‘To Be The Moon King’ is like a 60’s homegrown folk ballad in sepia, and closing track ‘Sad Satellite’ benefits from distant guitar hues and warm sunset synths.

Whilst the mood is consistently a heavy dream, the song structures are a little too similar to make each track feel unique. Too often, a two-chord sway from plodding finger-gallop guitars crops up with a slightly different vocal lilt. Then multiple songs will break off into a more strident chord structure to round off a chorus or hook, before returning to the two-chord sway again. If the instrumentation changed, or the ethereal vocal production haze switched up, tracks wouldn’t bleed into each other quite so much. I love the dark, damp, seductive yet pensive mood that Marissa Nadler’s music brings. Sprinkling in some audio variety would elevate this from a good record to a great one, in my humble opinion.

I can see myself enjoying ‘New Radiations’ much better as individual tracks spread out across Marissa Nadler’s wider catalogue. Individually, the songs are quite captivating. Together as an album, the tracks gloop with minimal distinction between them and feel less special. Fans can dive straight in. Newbies, I’d suggest dipping in with smaller doses first.

Recommended track: Sad Satellite

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