Nuff X - Shards Of My Heart

Hear The Track Here

As usual at this time of year, I am busy on another task - as well as these reviews. Yep, the 4th Annual Stevie awards are right around the corner and I'm busy totting up the years total of good swag. To be sure, when I am looking into the electronica section it is - like the genre - bursting at the seams with creative energy. It is also usual that at least two or three of these artists manage to crossover the genre into the much larger Soundclick conciousness. Both Bipolar and CJ Freq X (now known as Omnisine) featured in this league at last years awards and have subsequently done extremely well. Nuff X is definitely at the front of this crowd this year, having come from a long way back and I for one am glad to see the guy doing so well.

The most important change that has happened in this year (or the one I notice most anyway) is the cohesion he is bringing to his work. There's a tautness about his last few tracks that I wasn't hearing before, as well as a marked willingness to try things that sound like they shouldn't work together, but undeniably do. Shards Of My Heart does not employ that other trick he has learned lately; this track has no vocals whatsoever let alone any of the cut up variety. There's a choir of several thousand mind, so I guess that's to make up for the lack of said vocals. As it happens, the choir adds enormously to the track, lifting it out of the dreaded 'nice instrumental' category so beloved of the casual listener.

Musically, I find Shards Of My Heart very appealing too and it shows the developing confidence Sho' Nuff is gaining with each release. As I said above, this is much better than a nice instrumental but I think I would have to ultimately agree with Nuff X that it is waiting for a vocal/lyrical line. As good as it is (majestic in its own little way even) it is, at bottom, an instrumental and lets face it on Soundclick they are as numerous as dust motes in the air. While it is significantly better musically than a lot of instrumentals it still is one at base. Of course, fans of Nuff X in paricular and electronica in general will definitely get a kick out of this and so might the odd casual listener because it is a very nice peice of work. I'd certainly be interested in seeing where this goes with some lyrics and a vocal.

Intelligent, melodic electronica. Recommended.