Photo by Ebru Yildiz

“I’m not ready for the change,” swoons Ian Richard Devaney throughout the course of Nation of Language’s latest single off their new album, Dance Called Memory, but in the case of the Brooklyn synth-pop trio, it’s sounding more and more on this turn like the change which Devaney seems hesitant to embrace is also the catalyst behind an evolution in motion shaping their own singularity beyond a tried and true style they’ve already perfected since emerging with their proper debut in 2020’s Introduction, Presence.

It’s led them to Sub Pop after all for their fourth full-length effort, and you don’t just get to that level of success in the independent music world without doing something to stand out from the rest. Here, it’s those oddball nuances in the way Devaney alongside synthesist Aidan Noell, and bassist Alex MacKay contort electronic elements down an off-kilter path of pop music, escaping mere ’80s era comparison. Fireflies in waves, a hand against the face, and pirouettes in the living room in summer — these are all things that might make the view more challenging to see, yet they elicit a special moment along the way for Nation of Language. In this case, change is good.

Directed by: John MacKay

Nation of Language’s Dance Called Memory will be released September 19th on Sub Pop.