Nostalgic Afterlife – Insecure Thinking
Nostalgic Afterlife – Insecure Thinking – Album Review
Well now…you should see my unsurprised face! #JeffreyKnowsWhy
If you read my review on this dude’s last solo record earlier this year back in September, you’ll remember I commented loosely on the fact that Jeffrey Hull would be back sooner than later, even though he’d been particularly down at the time, claiming that he was ‘done with music.’ And so here we are, not even a full three months later, because that’s how that all goes y’all. We say things when we’re down that we don’t really mean. We thrash, we kick, we tantrum a bit…then we recover from whatever causes that, dig in, and get back to doin’ what we’re meant to be doin.’ I never doubted for a solitary second that Hull would return. Not sure if I know how to put that any better than to say game recognizes game – I’m forty-three years-old and I still battle my down days harder than anyone I know. I’ve been where this dude was many times and I’m sure I’ll be there again. It ain’t about the amount of times we fall down, it’s about continually finding that will and desire to get up and be the best version of ourselves that we can be. “I’ll be creating music for the rest of my life, gratefully. Thanks!” is a statement you’ll see posted up with this new album by Hull’s Nostalgic Afterlife – and it ain’t there by accident. That’s confirmation that he’s got his head back in the game for now, and I’m happy he does. I listen to a track like “Thought Insertion” that starts up this album and I’m quickly reminded about how much I appreciate how this dude approaches music from such an impressively innocent and humble angle. It’s a fairly minimalist style of Electro that he’s working with, and certainly comparable to a lot of what I’ve heard from him solo, in Clear Sun, and Mad Hugs as well. Pleasant. Inviting. Welcoming and friendly. I appreciate what I’m hearing on “Thought Insertion” and admire that it’s perfect in its own beautiful way. There’s nothing about it that I’d feel the need to change…it’s charming, and wonderful.
As to why Jeffrey needs the multiple monikers he’s got…I couldn’t tell ya. Like I’ve explained to every artist that has gone solo and left the band that they were in, they better go on to do something significantly different, otherwise I’m not sure what the point would be. Why make the same kind of music under multiple names? Or in the cases of those solo artists leaving their bands to go basically do the exact same thing they were doing already, why risk becoming a watered down version of what you once were? Look…I don’t know what exactly it was that had Hull so down the last time we crossed paths – but I do know that for a great many artists and bands out there, it usually boils down to the fact that it’s really, really, really damn tough to get people to listen. So you can look at solving that problem in a couple of ways. You could blanket the scene with a whole bunch of projects and accept that there are going to be much lower numbers of hit-counts, plays, and views etc. – or you can stick it out with one name & prove that longevity wins the war…which from what I can tell from my experience, it does. The bottom line is that I’ve yet to see a ton of evidence out there that supports doing the same kind of thing under multiple names and why that would help an artist establish themselves. I’m not saying that this completely applies to Jeffrey – he’s informed me that he’s been doin’ what he does for twenty-five years already, so why would I question his methods? Clearly he’s got it all under control & knows what he wants to do – so consider that a cautionary tale for the rest of you newcomers instead, how about that? Stop changing your band-names every ten days, leave your albums where you posted them, and make your trail of breadcrumbs on the internet as long as possible…these things generally help big-time. Anyhow. Like I said…no idea why these thoughts of advice keep popping up when Hull’s got it all locked down…I suppose it’s just random coincidence and nothing more…maybe it’s “Thought Projection.” I do think one of the biggest challenges we face as artists is not repeating ourselves. Lord knows I do that all the time in the things I write – to the point where I end up wondering why in the heck anyone would read my thoughts on just about anything, even though everything I do is written for whatever unique album or artist I’m listening to at the time. There are still similarities in so much of what we create, and it’s tough to not fall into the trap of being too consistent or unchanging. I listen to “Thought Projection” and much like “Thought Insertion,” I enjoy it too – but is it pushing the story of Jeffrey Hull that much more forward? I think that could very well be way more debatable. It’s well-produced, and it sounds great…the sound selection is solid, there are subtle hooks in the mix for ya…really nothing to complain about – BUT – is this terrain he’s already treaded upon? A path well-worn of his own design? Only he is going to know the full scope of the answer to that. Like I mentioned in my review of Good Spells just yesterday, a signature sound can work both for an against you; it’s a matter of how much people are tuning in to really listen. “Thought Projection” and “Thought Insertion” sound extremely consistent with what we’ve heard from Hull so far under his multiple monikers; it’s up to him to figure out if that’s really the kind of comment he wants, or if he should be challenging himself more to diversify his sound overall.
At the end of the day though, like any artist of any kind under the sun, the only responsibility you have is to yourself. If what you’re doing makes YOU happy, then the rest of the world’s opinions & advice really don’t matter at all – you do you and stay true to who you are; that’s all that ever matters. I might listen to a track like “Shaming Telepathy” and not feel like I’d personally turn it off, but wonder if it’s really the kind of tune that would cause people to turn it UP or be a reason that people would come rushing back to listen to Insecure Thinking all over again – but that might just be the way that I’m hearing it. It’s an inoffensive tune…it’s pleasant…it’s not punching anyone in the face to get their attention, it’s simply just there if you wanna push play and listen to it, you feel me? Definitely not bad by any stretch of the imagination, but so much harder to argue that it’s great…and this is where the paradox of choice truly exists – does Jeffrey want to be remembered by the masses as good enough, or as undeniably great? He alone gets to make that choice, and even then, he’d still have to battle with everyone’s personal taste as individuals. Personally, I like “Shaming Telepathy” – but I’d also be the first to acknowledge that I’d likely be the exception more-so than the rule. There’s never a whole lot involved with minimalism, that’s what makes it the way that it is – but from what I’ve learned in my own twenty-five years spent in the scene, the less there is for people out there to grab onto in music, the less inclined they are to reach. As inviting as things sound on a track like “Shaming Telepathy,” there’s a genuinely shocking amount of risk involved in making music like this that requires a monumental amount of patience to see it catch on.
It’s generally pretty peaceful and beautiful stuff when it comes right down to it. I like what I hear on this album, and as I’ve said in the past, if I was Jeffrey Hull, for sure, I’d be looking forward to the future, and another twenty-five years of making the music I love. “Insecure” has that melted-tape-in-the-sun sound that I love, and Hull’s cleverly surrounded that with more robust and clear tones that create an addictive contrast. I ain’t here to tell ya that “Insecure” is going to grab your interest or attention more than any of the rest of the material on Insecure Thinking should have by now – I think that the past three days of me writing reviews here on the site has revealed a plethora of artists that have their own thing going on, and if you like something from their catalog, you’re quite likely going to dig the entire scope of what they create. Like I was tellin’ ya – a signature sound can work for and against you as an artist. For anyone out there listening in part-time, you’re not really going to notice how little things seem to change or deviate from the recipe. Those out there listening more intently might feel a bit more restless in looking for that diversity, or simply appreciate that they get more of what they love in artists that have their own signature sound. “Insecure” is another good tune from Nostalgic Afterlife – and even if the next one sounded similar, I’d still be inclined to tell ya the same. It’s probably not going to get folks crashing the gate clamoring for the next record, but there’s no reason I can hear that they wouldn’t enjoy what they find, you feel me? It’s all very cohesive at the end of the day, but curiously engaging.
“Because It’s Too Much,” he included it. At least, that’s what I’m taking out of the title. Obviously ‘it’s’ could refer to many things and/or imply even more, but yeah…I’m gonna assume that he chose to keep this track in the lineup even though it’s likely ‘too much’ for most people out there listening. Too much of not enough really. Hull is both an experimental artist, and a fairly dedicated looper too, in the music he makes…when you combine both of those things and the sound ain’t your jam, clearly there’s a bit of risk involved in that design. Which was the case for me on “Because It’s Too Much” – I felt like this was indeed, too much, and yet not enough, as I’ve mentioned. It’s largely reliant on its electro-percussion, and yeah…I mean…I guess I just wasn’t really feeling this one. I like what’s happening in the background in the melody you’ll hear much more, but admittedly, Nostalgic Afterlife has got that buried deep and makes it much more challenging on the listening side of this scenario to get at what we’d likely love most. It is what it is. I don’t ever expect everyone out there to feel the same way, I just call things like I hear them. “Because It’s Too Much” needed more of what it doesn’t have, and less of what it does. That happens to the best of us y’all…not every track we’re ever gonna make belongs in the Hall Of Fame.
It’s not just tough to please everyone, it’s outright impossible. Like – I’d be the first guy to tell ya that you’ve got a responsibility to give a song what it’s calling out for and nothing more – but I’d be the last to claim that anyone really knows where to start and stop with that. No different than any chef – adding too many ingredients can happen so quickly. Self-editing and restraint…those aren’t the natural tendencies of human beings – we want to do MORE – and even in fairly minimalistic designs, that still remains to be true. I listen to a track like “Schizophrenia, Ocd, & Social Anxiety” and I love the melody you’ll find at the very beginning. So when the rest keeps on coming in, I’m like, no…just stop. And then more layers. And I’m like, but no…you had it already…just stop. And obviously so on and so forth. For an artist like Hull, it’s actually slowing things down and pairing things back – being objective with the material and what it really needs – that’s the main challenge. It’s not whether or not he can add MORE to it, because there is ALWAYS more to add to anything. The art is in the restraint. The evolution is in the editing. I’m not saying I’d turn off “Schizophrenia, Ocd, & Social Anxiety” because that’s not the case – I wouldn’t – BUT…I can also acknowledge that quite often, Hull seems to have all he needs at the outset in the first few bars of a song in terms of his melody, and it might be worth it to explore it further. Like, rather than add a bunch of flashy electro-beats and percussion in – what if he experimented with more piano tones, or continued to shift that melody around instead? Honestly, I think he’d probably be interested in finding out and it’d be rewarding for him as an artist. Right now, I can hear that he’s kind of relying on what his natural tendencies do track after track…but if you’re looking for different results or a way to remain interested in the art and craft over time, it’s by switching things up, and deviations.
Because make no mistake, there’s an extraordinarily gifted composer in Jeffrey Hull. In my personal opinion, I think he puts many barriers in between what helps us as listeners recognize that easily. As to whether he’s doing it intentionally or not…only he’d know the answer to that. But take a track like “Silent Warrior 2” for example – much like the song beforehand, the melody underneath the surface is pretty damn profound. So…think of it like this…what’s the star of the show? Anyone listening to what Nostalgic Afterlife has got goin’ on throughout the course of Insecure Thinking would have to tell you the exact same thing – the electro-percussion/beats, right? We put what we want heard the most on the top of the mix as a general rule…doesn’t really matter what style of music you create, the featured element is the most accessible 99% of the time unless you’re in The Strokes or part of Tool. So again, in my opinion, Hull’s perhaps missing an opportunity to highlight what really makes his music worth tuning in for. The question becomes whether or not it’s a case of self-sabotage…and only he’ll know the true answer to that. There’s not a reason in the world that the ordinary sound of the electro-beats should be the most predominant aspect of a song like “Silent Warrior 2” when the melody underneath all that is straight up extraordinary, sincere, and endearing in a way that would get everyone out there listening. The best advice I’ve got for Jeffrey continues to be the same – less is more…editing and restraint…all of these things…it’s about understanding what the strongest elements of the material would be & turning our attention towards that. If the script was flipped, and the focus of sound in “Silent Warrior 2” was inverted so that the melody was on top and the drums were below where we’d still have absolutely no problem hearing them anyway…I’m tellin’ ya folks…he’d probably have himself an award-worthy tune. As it stands, you can get to what you wanna hear in “Silent Warrior 2,” but it does take work on our side of the speakers as listeners to do that…again, Hull’s gotta decide if that’s the right way to go about it all. I do like the fact that he’s got a low-end electro-bass-line outlining the main melodic hooks on this cut – it helps, but I think the point I’m trying to communicate is that he’s got the ability to make it easier for the people out there to get to the heart of what he’s making with his music…I think he’s just gotta want to let us in a bit more than he does. His gift for melody and sincerity is straight up stunning and equally spellbinding though y’all…my only hope is that your ears can overlook the beats in order to appreciate it.
Is there enough to “Concentration” at the very end of Nostalgic Afterlife’s Insecure Thinking? Nah. Not really. I think we probably experienced its most incredible moments of melody underneath the surface in the previous two tracks, and likely the most balanced tunes within the first four of the record overall. I’d probably have cut “Because It’s Too Much,” and I can’t really argue on behalf of “Concentration” doing too much else that the record hasn’t already done…so…yeah…I mean…I’d have probably gone with the strongest six so the strength of the material doesn’t get too diluted personally, but that’s just me. As I’ve always told ya, Jeffrey included, I’m just another guy on the internet with an opinion and there are millions of me out there. All that makes me different than the rest is that I tend to go deep into my reasoning as to why I feel this way or that way, but at the end of the day, the only real advice I ever have is to do what you do because you love to do it. Doesn’t matter to me if you’re a mechanic or a musician, the same advice applies. Doesn’t matter if I don’t like something or the world doesn’t either – it’s about what YOU like to do and nothing more. It’s up to Jeffrey if he values something that any of us have to say, or feels like what we’re trying to advise him about holds any water. I still have the same opinion that I came in with at the conclusion of Insecure Thinking and “Concentration” at the end – I ain’t turning it off, because I personally enjoy it and find it peaceful…but it’s harder to say what the larger audience out there would feel about it all, and whether or not he’s quite doing enough with the remarkable skillset he’s got. Sure there’s a whole lot of music…yes there are a whole lot of names that he goes by…but at the end of the day, the more “Concentration” and focus he applies on WHAT it is that makes his music great, highlights that, and dials into his gift for melody…the further he’ll go with it all.
Find out more about Jeffrey Hull, Nostaligic Afterlife, and all his various projects at the official website: https://www.mad-hugs.com
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