Dance Called Memory

Nation of Language are one of the 2020s’ undeniable indie-rock success stories, as the Brooklyn trio’s strange but delectable alchemy of pulsing electronic pop and the oaky, baroque sounds of late-2000s indie have reached a steadily growing audience with each release. You’ve likely heard “Weak in Your Light” from 2023’s <i>Strange Disciple</i> if you’ve turned on a single TV show in the last few years, and their fourth album <i>Dance Called Memory</i> continues their hot streak of broadly appealing and emotionally resonant songcraft. With frequent collaborator and LCD Soundsystem live member Nick Millhiser behind the boards, these 10 songs sparkle and bounce with every rhythmic twist, as lead singer Ian Richard Devaney’s angelic vocals hover above the proceedings. And lest you think they’re becoming easy to pin down, <i>Dance Called Memory</i> has a few tricks up its sleeve: Witness the brittle backbeats that make up the framework of “In Another Life” or the glistening shoegaze textures that course through “Now That You’re Gone”. It’s these subtle tweaks to their sound that prove that, even as they grow in popularity, Nation of Language continue to evolve in new and surprising ways.