Written: 13th October 2024
Just three months ago – following an eight-year hiatus – Nine Stones Close released Diurnal (review here), an album of enthralling and carefully crafted progressive, alternative and heavy rock. Following an avalanche of creativity from main songwriter Adrian Jones in 2023, the band will release their second album of the year – Adventures in Anhedonia - in November. Anhedonia is defined as the inability to feel pleasure in normally pleasurable activities. As such, Adventures in Anhedonia is an extremely personal album to Adrian Jones, based on his experiences and traumas of the recent past. “It really reflects what’s been happening to me over the past years, the effect it’s had on me and how I have tried to deal with some of it.”
Disconnected, introspection is a recurring theme and the inherent atmosphere of the album is one of a shrouded, pensive solemnity. Opening track Beach Walker immediately signals to the listener that the music of Adventures in Anhedonia will also be quite distinct to that of Diurnal. Beach Walker begins with a steady pulsating heartbeat and the plaintive vocals of Adrian (Aio) O’Shaughnessy, who, across the length of the album, is consistently at his best as he brings Jones’ pain into stark, anguished existence. Lyrically, the track deals with the dual nature of time – as both a cruel and kind master – suggesting that it is an inescapable force that shapes our experiences. I cant connect / I feel remote / What's wrong with me? / Is this how things ought to be? The track ranges from contemplative piano led sections to soul-lacerating desolation during Jones’s final and mesmeric guitar solo.
One of the key strengths of the album is the band’s ability to conjure abyssal depths of emotion whether the music is loud and cathartic or softer and analytical. Second track, Anhedonia, draws on the latter but is no less beguiling than the intense release of Beach Walker. As with the first track, Anhedonia is co-written by keyboardist Brendan Eyre. Artful interplay between him and Jones creates a graceful but nonetheless dark and meditative aura of contemplation; the short central piano solo is amongst the most heartbreaking moments on the album. Plunged into a void of isolation, the protagonist is estranged from the very essence of love and warmth. Barely feeling / You move through the day / Terrorizing the words you need to say / Barely hearing / The voices through the doom / Immunising / You try to heal the wound.
Binary delves into the quandary of living in a hyper-digitalised world where the lines between reality and artificiality are increasingly blurred. The lyrics paint a picture of a life dominated by digital interactions, questioning the authenticity of self and of relationships. Influencing me / Influencing you / Are you listening? / It’s endemic / It’s like a disease / It’s like a friend / It’s like an enemy. Due to the slower, quieter nature of some of the tracks on Adventures in Anhedonia, it would be easy to overlook the work of drummer Lars Spijkervet and bassist Joachim van Praagh; however, their subtle and thoughtful approaches during moments such as the first half of Binary is never less than compelling, adding delicate textures to the lead work of Eyre and Jones.
The Mind - a three-minute instrumental – takes us through a range of emotions. The opening acoustic guitar has hints of optimism but the accompanying unchanging synths point to something more perturbing. This is realised in full a minute in when Spijkervert’s drums cascade down with remorseless vigour as the wails and tortured cries of Jones’s guitar illustrate a mind in turmoil. Ultimately, the track then returns to calmer waters, illustrating that worries will hopefully pass but that we cannot always control when they might strike.
Walk Towards The Sun is a cogitative exploration of self-awareness, disillusionment, the human tendency to lose sight of origins and the theme of unconscious movement towards an ultimate goal or destiny. Despite being just over three minutes long, there is the feel of something epic about the track, not least due to the hypnotic and exquisite solo from Jones, easily among the best of his entire career. As ensnaring as the beauty of Walk Towards The Sun, the threatening menace of Landwaster beckons the listener to its bleak world. With a twisted snarl to the vocal, O’Shaughnessy delivers the commentary on destruction and the consequences of unchecked greed. If you can't love it / I will destroy it / If you can't appreciate / I will desecrate / If you cannot deviate / I will desecrate. Tenebrous, stygian and honest, Landwaster – co-written by Michel Simons, Jones’s partner on the Jet Black Sea albums - stalks us like a ravenous beast feeding on human apathy. ‘Backing vocals and evil whispers’ from Jones alongside programmed drums and samples, add intrigue to the most otherworldly and haunting track on the album.
Instrumental The Moment I Stopped Caring gives some delightful melodic respite but due to the profound feelings of the album thus far, we never fully relax, wandering where our protagonist is heading next. The ethereally poignant Hole answers that question. You didn’t finish the book I gave you before you left / Never got to hear the songs I wrote for you / Before you left. Deeply remorseful, the aching absence left by someone we have lost is examined in a powerful narrative of a heart left with a void that time cannot fill. Gorgeously melodic yet dripping with regret and highlighting the enduring pain of unfinished goodbyes and unspoken apologies, Nine Stones Close unveil one of the best songs they have ever produced. Simply stunning.
Concluding Adventures in Anhedonia, the eight and half minute Plastic Animals is an odyssey through the internal conflict of the search for self-definition, the sense of being conspicuous yet directionless and the complexity of personal growth. Wrapped in day glow orange / I dive into the flow / Just a buoy adrift / Avoiding the undertow / Should I swim ashore / Or do I just drift / Should I stay here / And see if I am missed? In a remarkable performance, O’Shaughnessy – using his full vocal range - goes from insular, confused and scared to vehemently questioning. Crunching chords, driving riffs and deep throbbing keyboards - it is Nine Stones Close at their most musically savage; Adrian Jones’s final solo is nothing short of sensational: explosive, cathartic and wondrous. The listener might feel the album will end but there is still time for a final contemplative moment as the band fall away and acoustic guitar and voice remain. Little plastic animals / Represent my mental state.
To some extent, every album from Nine Stones Close is personal to Adrian Jones but on Adventures in Anhedonia, there is the feeling that he has poured every single drop of blood, sweat and tears that he has to offer into this one. Every single song is completely mesmerising and Jones’s long-time producer and mixer, Paul Van Zeeland has, once again, done an exemplary job. An experience so electrifying, it ensnares the senses and leaves one utterly spellbound. As a collective, Nine Stones Close have produced the best album of their career (no mean feat considering the standards they have set) and as a songwriter, lyricist and guitarist, Adrian Jones has produced his masterpiece.
Adventures in Anhedonia is released on 7th November 2024.
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