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Written by Marc Farr Monday, 12 May 2014 15:20

If The Nude Trilogy were to be truly understood by the listener, whether for music or message, it would need a complete overhaul in style and production.

Nude: Forbidden is the final EP in the Nude trilogy. The Irrepressibles use music to make political statements. While this is nothing new, The Nude EPs are incomprehensible, while trying to be elitist at the same time. Minimalist and sparse in sound, Nude: Forbidden plays like a bad B-movie soundtrack. Shades of early Depeche Mode, mixed with the desperation of Joy Division’s Ian Curtis, put in a blender with insincere emotion and a lack of voice, and out comes this EP.

The band, self-described as an “art-pop collective,” is led by musician and composer Jamie McDermott. His stripped-down approach to music could be alluring, if it were not so baroque and myopic in meaning. With their pro-gay statement, The Irrepressibles are far from the first act to make social statements with their art. However, it seems very little thought is put into the listeners, and how—or if—they will understand the statement being made. If The Nude Trilogy were to be truly understood by the listener, whether for music or message, it would need a complete overhaul in style and production.

Opening with “Forbidden,” a downtrodden attempt at sparse, yet approachable music, the album drones. The track is anticlimactic and sad, a pitiful attempt at a Robert Smith/Cure-like vocal, with as little melody or instrumentation as possible. A lot seems to be left out here. The next track, “Arrow” (which appears twice on the EP: one mix by Ghosting Season, one by LUKAS), comes on with promise. Tastes of early New Wave come across here. However, vocally it is shrill, elusive, and hardly melodic. The rest of this EP is basically the same thing…and the message? Well, if you can find it, you are one up on everyone else. D- | Marc Farr

 

(On a side note, as of this writing, The Irrepressibles have been denied their United States work visa, which has caused the cancellation of their U.S. tour. Perhaps someone in the White House actually understood the message here?)