''Snake Sideways'' is the debut studio album by
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...
band
Do Nothing, released by Exact Truth on 30 June 2023. Upon release, ''Snake Sideways'' received generally favorable reviews, with critics expressing varied assessments of the album's more subdued and experimental approach compared to earlier releases.
Background and recording
''Snake Sideways'' was written following the release of several
EPs
An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...
, including ''Zero Dollar Bill'' in 2020 and ''Glueland'' in 2021.
Describing the writing process as a "terrible time", vocalist Chris Bailey stated that he encountered
writer's block
Writer's block is a non-medical condition, primarily associated with writing, in which an author is either unable to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown.
Writer's block has various degrees of severity, from difficulty in coming ...
and
anxiety
Anxiety is an emotion characterised by an unpleasant state of inner wikt:turmoil, turmoil and includes feelings of dread over Anticipation, anticipated events. Anxiety is different from fear in that fear is defined as the emotional response ...
during the creation of the debut,
[ The element of "panic" and "unhealthily obsessive" recording process led Bailey to be "more candid" in his lyricism,][ stating that the lyrics came from a "very honest space" about "being in a tough spot and trying to see a way out of it".][ Bailey cited the musician ]Tom Waits
Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on society's underworld and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He began in the American folk music, fo ...
and electronic band Underworld
The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld.
...
as inspirations for the direction of the album.
Release and promotion
The lead single, Happy Feet, was directed by Luke Ainger and released in February 2023.[ The album announcement coincided with the release of the second single, Amoeba, directed by Clump Collective.][
]
Critical reception
According to review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...
website Metacritic
Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, ''Snake Sideways'' received "generally favorable" reviews from critics.[ Amrit Virdi praised the album for playing to the band's strengths, describing it as a "mature and polished version of their experimental sound" and highlighting the "stark and honest" lyricism.][ '' Rolling Stone UK'' stated that "the emotion of early stand-out ‘Happy Feet’ evokes the euphoric highs of noughties NYC indie, while ‘Moving Target’ is a beautifully restrained effort that shows they're capable of ballad-lite moments too."][ Chris Taylor of ''DIY'' similarly considered the album to be a "far cry" from earlier songs, but considered the "raw nerves" of the lyricism and "spikiness" of the music to "bring a sense of hope" to the album.][ Ross Horton of ''The Line of Best Fit'' considered the album to be functional but indistinct from other contemporary ]post-punk
Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...
bands, stating "Everything here works, but that’s hardly great praise."[ Stuart Stubbs of ''Loud and Quiet'' commended the band in being "adamant to try new things".][
]
Track listing
Personnel
*Andrew Harrison, Charlie Howarth, Chris Bailey, Kasper Sandstrøm - band
*Andy Savours - producer, engineer
*Felix Davis - mastering
*Oli Barton-Wood - mixing
*Josh Rumble, Matt Facey, Ned Prevezer - assistant engineer
References
External links
{{official website, https://donothingband.com/
2018 debut albums
Post-punk albums by American artists