A favorite music artist of ours is North Atlantic Oscillation. This Scottish duo have created an utterly unique and beautiful sound that manages to combine Beach Boys harmonies, Radiohead melodicism, and shoegazer walls of sound. They recently released their fifth album, United Wire, and it is a triumph. With songs varying from hushed, angelic voices to dissonant-yet-attractive noise, it is another reason why NAO are unparalleled in their ability to meld disparate musical elements into a stunning and immensely satisfying listening experience.

Once again, Brad Birzer and Tad Wert take some time to share thoughts on a much-loved group:

Tad: Okay, Brad, I have been smitten with North Atlantic Oscillation since their debut album, Grappling Hooks. As a matter of fact, it was my favorite album of 2010! And rather than succumbing to the dreaded “sophomore slump”, I thought their second album, Fog Electric, was even better. The Third Day maintained the high quality of their music. I should probably mention Sam Healy’s excellent solo 2013 record, Sand, which, for all intents and purposes, sounds like an NAO album to me. 

They left KScope Music and released Grind Show in 2018, which was a bit of a disappointment. Their consistently excellent releases up to that point, and the tremendous growth they exhibited must have spoiled me! Grind Show, while good, didn’t blow me away like every other album of theirs. So it was with some trepidation that I bought United Wire. I needn’t have worried; this is a tremendous return to form, in my opinion. What are your thoughts on it?

Brad: Dear Tad (how’s that for a traditional introduction?), I love doing these with you, my friend.  If anything, I worry that I’ll bug you too much about such dialogues!  I could definitely do one or more a week over the next year.

That said, you bring out the best of me.  

And, for all you readers out there, Tad may have formally introduced himself under the “Tad:” bit, but he actually wrote the intro (above) to this piece as well, and I can’t think of a better way of introducing the true beauty and excellence of NAO than what he typed: “utterly unique and beautiful sound that manages to combine Beach Boys harmonies, Radiohead melodicism, and shoegazer walls of sound.”  In a million years, or armed with 1,000 monkeys and their typewriters, I could not have captured the band so perfectly.

I will also admit this as well, I love Sam Healy, and it’s incredibly hard for me to be objective about him.  Granted, I don’t know him well personally, but he and I have corresponded a bit, and I think he’s just freaking brilliant.  

And, generous.  An example: I tried like mad to purchase a copy of the latest release, United Wire, through the internet, and the site continuously rejected my credit card (for those of you who don’t know me, I’ve been employed by the same place since 1999, and my wife also has an income–we’re not un-well off!) repeatedly.  I mentioned this to Sam on Facebook, and a few weeks later, I found a copy of United Wire waiting for me in my Michigan mailbox. Gratis!

And, what happened?  On the first play, I fell in love with the album.  Several weeks later, it’s still in constant rotation, and I think the world of it.  Whether it’s NAO or SAND, Healy knows music.  He lives it, and he breathes it.

Tad, I must admit–we, for once, disagree on something–I really liked Grind Show.  I didn’t think it was as good as the first three NAO albums, but I definitely liked it.  For me, though, at least prior to United Wire, the true masterpiece, a PROG MUST OWN, was Fog Electric.  To me, one can’t consider him or herself a fan of progressive rock at all without actually loving Fog Electric.  Grappling Hooks was brilliant pop (in the Tears for Fears vein), but Fog Electric was pure prog.

When Fog Electric first came out, admittedly at first, I didn’t get it.  Then, Kscope re-released it, and I was utterly blown away by it.  I would consider it, for me, a top fifteen ever rock album.  That is, going all the way back to Bill Haley and the Comets, NAO’s Fog Electric is one of the top fifteen albums of all time.

So, Tad, what do you think of NAO album no. five, United Wire?

Tad: Brad, I love United Wire. My credit card worked (ha!), and I bought the CD through MusicGlue, which also included a digital download. One of the options is a “merged” version, which has all of the tracks merged into one long one. I think that is the way NAO intended for the album to be listened to, and I really like it.

Matryoshka is my favorite track. It begins with a distorted and processed voice over a mechanized beat, and then it transforms into a beautiful piano-based coda that I wish would last forever. Then the distortion tries to take over again, but the piano wins in the end.

Brad: Tad, I’m not sure I have a favorite track.  I love the whole damned (sorry for the expletive) thing!!!!  I would agree with you that Sam intentionally made the bandcamp release (which I bought)  one long track.  The album really, really works.  As in, really, really, works!

Tad: Oh, I agree. As I mentioned earlier, I think the way we’re supposed to listen to it is as one continuous suite of songs. Sam Healy is a musical genius when it comes to composing melodies and arranging instrumental accompaniment. At first listen, you think there is something wrong with the tape speed, then you realize it’s been deliberately slowed down and sped up. And it works! Drum and percussion bang out frenetic beats while angelic vocals float serenely above the chaos. Underpinning everything are electronic ambiences that sometimes come to the fore, but usually remain in the background. There are layers and layers of sound that keep the music endlessly fascinating.

Well, I think we’ve made clear our love for this band in general and this album in particular. You can purchase your own copy of it at MusicGlue or BandCamp.