Wild Nothing
Empty Estate

The musical journey of Jack Tatum is becoming increasingly interesting. Not that it wasn't before. Quickly: the sugary, streaming, and even slightly disturbed dreams of Gemini, the debut, have given way to a more definite closure of the circle in terms of sound, realized with the splendid Nocturne, a modern-day indie-pop manual, with a couple of dips into the '80s (one and two) executed properly and then a lot of wavering, whether pale or sanguine. It was precisely those two dips into the '80s that hinted at some evolutionary possibilities of a sound still in search of a structured, definitive personality, even though one was already fairly well outlined. Now, talking about the '80s and evolution together might seem a bit of a gamble but, look, consider that synthetic and electronic caress with which the theme of that era is often pampered today (heck, we're talking about 30 years ago now...) and here blooms in front of you an EP branded Wild Nothing that raises the bar and offers something truly fun. Yes, indeed, if the path Tatum will take in the near future is precisely this one, we should expect a full-length devoted to drugapulco, glo-fi, chill wave. Define it as you like, but we are within that realm. I say this based on the assumption that the most substantial, juicy, and meaty track of the entire release, A Dancing Shell, sounds like this. Therefore, '80s whims and fancies, but with contemporary and typically Tatumian support architecture. 

An interesting foray of the Wild Nothing trademark into contiguous territories but not precisely those of origin. A bit like the postcards of a famous vodka a few years ago, where the bottle, whether inserted in various contexts or composed of objects of various nature, always fit perfectly. I believe that the strength of quality work is never to fall victim to its own personality. I did not believe that Wild Nothing could arrive here, to explore sounds of this type, and yet, a project with the face of a schoolboy lost in his thoughts with his head in the clouds while everyone else has their heads down on the paper to finish the task, manages to settle with a certain naturalness both in the above-mentioned musical realms and in more ambient, pop, and wave situations.

Then, of course, I could be wrong and the next move will be something entirely different. We will listen curiously anyway, to this half-step that, when it doesn't succeed, goes unnoticed but, when it knows how to make its point, has its weight and creates expectations. Increasingly higher for me and, I believe, for those awaiting the day that Wild Nothing is universally recognized as a milestone in the music of the double-zero and ten years.