Where to start with Nadja? To be honest, being inundated with hype from the Internet's hype machine forces my hand into checking out what this duo has to offer my ears. Desire in Uneasiness is the two-piece's first full-length of new material after a slew of re-releases and re-recordings. But the promise in what I am hearing about Nadja truly piques my interest in just what they sound like.
Much of the music that Desire in Uneasiness contains is very similar: swirling keyboards and electronics which create atmosphere, drums that keep the beat and propel the songs along their path, and a bass guitar that toys with and bellows out through the material. The muted thrum in the beginning of "Disambiguation" is equally soothing and grating (yes I know this is mostly an oxymoron) at the same time; so, depending on one's mood this could seriously affect the listening experience which is interesting that it works on multiple levels like this, and the rumbling bass and drums further add layers to the composition. "Sign-Expression" exudes a lethargic but upbeat vibe until at roughly the midway point the tempo picks up significantly; this shifts the track into a mellow but driving song with excellent atmospheric keyboards and electronics. The lack of bass within "Affective Fields" actually adds a different dimension to the music (addition by subtraction is another oxymoron I know) which opens up the electronics to make even more of a mark than they already do throughout the record.
Desire in Uneasiness is great to pop on in the background and do work to or read while listening; unfortunately there is little to force listener's attention to the intricacies of Nadja's songwriting arrangements. In point of fact, Desire in Uneasiness is full of layers of sound and subtle noise which can all be easily overlooked if one is not paying attention. My one complaint is the drum sound on the record; and seeing as this is the first album of Nadja which contains contributions from an actual drummer instead of a drum machine, this could easily be inexperience with using them and or recording them. Still, there is plenty for cheerleaders of instrumental "post-rock" (still hate this term) to listen to and enjoy here; it is not catchy, but it is easy to imagine a scenario of being drawn to listen to the album fairly often.
