Nation of Language eager to translate new music for a live audience at Brooklyn Steel
Brooklyn synth-pop trio Nation of Language is about to embark on their biggest New York City show to date — a milestone that isn’t lost on front man Ian Devaney and his partner in life and music, Aidan Noell.
Speaking with the Daily News ahead of their Thursday headliner show at Brooklyn Steel, Devaney seemed equally nervous and excited to take the stage at the 1,800-capacity venue.
“It’s the biggest show that we’ve played to date that’s not a festival show, like the biggest headlining show we’ve ever played, which is gonna be an emotional and nerve-racking but exciting thing,” he said. “And anyone who is there with us, I think they’re gonna be able to tell that we are buzzing. Because we can’t really hide it.”
“We were at Brooklyn Steel recently to see Weyes Blood,” he added. “My friend turned to me and was like, ‘You realize this is where your next New York show is?’ And I was like, ‘Shhh!’ ”
Adding to the excitement is the fact the band will be debuting new music before a live audience. The band’s first LP, “Introduction, Presence,” was released in 2020 when pandemic lockdowns prevented them from seeing how fans responded to their music.
“The pandemic kind of made me realize the degree to which the live performance of the songs is really an entirely different kind of artistic endeavor than the writing and recording of them,” Devaney said. “For the longest time, performing live was sort of framed in my head as just you’re showing the people the thing you made, and I think not getting to do it, then getting to tour so much now, I’ve really come to appreciate the degree to which the songs really take on a life of their own, and how I experience them so differently live versus the recorded version.”
After their hometown show, Nation of Language will hit the road again, playing clubs and festivals throughout the U.S. and Europe. Noell, who plays synth, says tour life suits them well.
“I’m a huge fan of working with my partner,” she said. “We pretty much hang out all the time, every day, and that doesn’t get old to me at all. I love to get to experience the tour life together and see all these new things and venture whenever we have time off and I love being onstage together.
“It’s a very special feeling to get to make music with someone,” Noell continued. “And if that someone is your partner, someone you love very much, getting to do all these things together is extra special.”
The same goes for working with bassist Alex MacKay, who joined the band in 2022. “I love playing music with Alex,” Noell added. “It’s so fun when we walk into a room together and we can feel it together.”
The band has released a couple of tracks ahead of their third album, “Strange Disciple.” The first, “Weak in Your Light,” would not be out of place on the band’s sophomore album, “A Way Forward.” However, the second track, “Sole Obsession,” showcases some of the more bass-driven elements Devaney said listeners could expect from “Strange Disciple,” much of which was influenced by the band’s recent time on the road.
“It’s a little more bass guitar groove-driven and so, to me, it sort of evokes walking around a city,” he said. “Usually, you’re given just like an hour or two between sound check and doors when you can kind of explore, and so there’s this excited energy to quickly exploring the area around the venue as much as you can before you have to get back to it and put on the show.”
After their Brooklyn performance, the band heads west to Los Angeles, followed by two dates at Seattle’s famed Crocodile, where they’ll share the bill with Reggie Watts. Then it’s off to Europe to play several primavera festivals before returning to the U.S. for the Pitchfork Festival in Chicago this July.
Nation of Language clearly loves to travel, but luckily New Yorkers won’t have to venture too far from the G train to see them before they hit the road.
