- "I really struggle with music and musicians who take themselves too seriously," Alessio Natalizia said last year. Considering the intimate pop of Banjo Or Freakout and the stately ambient techno of Walls, his latest project, Not Waving, is Natalizia's clearest stand against po-faced music. By filtering his punk, noise, post-punk and kosmische roots through an arch approach to production, Natalizia sounds right at home on Diagonal.
Good Luck is the brashest Not Waving record to date. His earlier full-lengths, Umwelt and Redacted, merged Walls' indie leanings with a moody, cinematic sound. Last year's Animals, as Holly Dicker noted, "cast off into unfamiliar and experimental approaches," where the undulating synth tones were offset by harsher ingredients. Using bright synth splashes and pumping rhythms, Good Luck goes even further.
The album could be loosely described as dance music, but the tracks don't behave as though they were built for DJs. "Children Are Our Phuture" sounds like it's overheating from the start, the snare backfiring against acid arps and sliced vocal loops. These elements then settle into a more measured thrust, as though the arrangement was built the wrong way round. "Her Quality," a standout here, comes to life with lurid synth shapes, squashed vocal samples and brutish, unstable drums that could easily derail a DJ set.
The album's high energy is balanced by tender synth-led moments. The ambient "Teach Me" feels like a hose-down after the sweat-inducing fun of "Where Are We," featuring Marie Davidson. "Roll Along With The Pain Of It All [I'll Text U]" is a bright yet melancholic drift. Another digression doesn't fare as well. "Watch Yourself"'s indie dance crossover isn't without merit, but the delivery—one lyric goes, "Shut your mouth, you're some kind of lame / watch yourself, you seem kind of fake"—lacks the punchiness of, say, "Where Are We." But that's a minor complaint, and one you might expect of an album that isn't striving for smoothness. Good Luck's upfront sound isn't for everyone, but it refuses to be ignored.
Tracklist01. Love Trance
02. Me Me Me
03. Children Are Our Phuture
04. Walk Of Shame
05. Where Are We
06. Teach Me
07. Forever
08. Her Quality
09. Interested Going
10. Watch Yourself
11. Tool [I Dont Give A Shit]
12. Roll Along With The Pain Of It All [I'll Text U]