Nathaniel J. Forrester’s 2019 album ‘Weirdos Dance In Dark Places’ starts out with a melody that sounds like it’s sampled from the alarm sound of an iPhone. Weirdly enough, it makes perfect musical sense, breaking out into the everyday existential pop-crisis that leads us through the whole album: “Am I lost in space or a mouse in a pharmaceutical rat race?”
We are introduced to nostalgic synth basses, drum machines, electric guitars played on the edge of the bed with the 4-track running. Simplicity is key, and also a melodic necessity, as Forrester’s instruments float together so neatly that his child-like and often instantly memorable melodies make the central theme for the songs.
At times we are thrown back to the 80's records by The Cleaners From Venus, as Forrester seems to have the very same dedication for quick and spontaneous pop ideas, while also having developed the lyrical sensibility of an outcast: “I've heard there's a world outside / The border of our kitchen blinds.”
His composition ‘King of Wasterland’ dives even deeper into that, as it’s exploring the anxious awkwardness of being at a party and having nothing to talk about, about getting drunk and the night getting later and later:
“Is heaven just a prelude to a panic attack?”
At the same time, the song sounds like a party itself, with resemblance to the shake-your-hips hits of early Madness. ‘Subletting’ guides us through the strange nostalgia that comes with staying in a room that is ultimately not your own – and the depersonalisation that is included. The topic goes deep for Forrester, down to his organs: “You can rent my heart and let my bladder / You can start a lease on my lungs.”
His occupation being Berlin, we can often hear him incorporate his new home with some fascination yet bewildered distance. Singing about city-centre isolation, Forrester states: “The Lonely Planet Guide didn't specify the crippling feeling of isolation in this city at all.” And somehow, he manages to condense all of that into something catchy yet honest, always half-ironic, always self-aware.
A true hit is the title track of the album. ‘Weirdos Dance In Dark Places’ is an anthem for the outcasts at the party, the ones who love to fantasise and awkwardly tap their feet on the side of the main happening. It clearly is an outstanding one-man pop music effort.
One single and two EPs down the line, Nathaniel J. Forrester’s songs still own their respective catchiness, and also have improved in their production. His new EP ‘Wrestle Mania’ is dreamy but aware, absurd but grounded, playful but reserved at times; somewhere in “The desert landscape / Of Bandcamp plays.” Forrester’s sound is always pop. Curious lyrics meet the catchiness of an 80's bedroom – and even though we may be too shy, we feel like dancing.
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