Album Review: Nookie - Exceptions

In all the years I've been writing about music, I have covered just about everything. I've reviewed the spectrum from pop to black metal, from mainstream rock to jazzy instrumentals. But sitting down to write about this record, I believe it's the first time I've ever covered a record in another language, where whether or not I can make them out, I can't connect whatsoever to the lyrics. Considering that I'm both a writer and a songwriter, it's an odd distance to have between myself and the music. While there are many, especially in the metal world, who write off lyrics as being completely unimportant, I am not one of them. The message of a song can certainly detract from what might otherwise be a good composition. It happens all the time, so it's odd thinking these songs could be something I would hate, if I understood them.

Nookie is a Russian alternative singer, and leaving geopolitics behind, has an album that sounds a lot like the Western alternative female-fronted scene, just with Cyrillic syllables in the melodies. Her voice sits in that comfortable zone between pop and punk, where she has enough of a shout to it that the music comes across as aggressive, but she's able to keep enough melody when it's time for a hook. Hers is a style like a rougher version of early Paramore.

The upside of the record is Nookie herself. Even with the language barrier, she has a charisma that carries into the music where I can feel what she's going for. She's energetic, angry, and easily the selling point of the whole experience.

The downside of the record is, as I thought it might be, the fact that I can't connect to the music on more than a glossy surface level. Simply trying to talk about what songs work the best is difficult, as the language forms strings of letters I struggle to make sense of. Conveying thoughts about things that aren't anchored to my own reality is one of those philosophical puzzles that isn't easy to solve. So rather than pick out songs to highlight little things, let's stick with overall impressions.

"Exceptions" is fascinating for what it teaches me. It is a record firmly in a style I have a soft spot for, but the language barrier makes it impossible for me to say how much I do or don't like it. I relate to songs both melodically and lyrically (trust me, plenty of songs have been ruined by posturing about how much someone rocks, parties, or drinks), and half of the experience has been removed here. I like what I do hear, but I'm missing the human connection. It's part of the reason I've rarely enjoyed extreme metal. I like the poetry of music, and it's missing here.

That said, "Exceptions" is a solid record for the style, and it's an interesting thought experiement for me. I don't know if you will get the same thing out of it, but at least for the sake of opening my eyes, it was worth listening to.