Nils Frahm - "All Melody"

Germany's own Nils Frahm since the mid-2000's has been dishing out some of the most critically adored Modern Classical and Electronic music.  His debut album "Streichelfisch" is overall an incredibly charming release.  Parts of it come off almost like a Johnny Greenwood soundtrack, while others come off as some very slick Modern Classical.  Parts of "Streichelfisch" are sometimes whimsical and fantasy-oriented, but just as many are haunting and chilling.  One thing was for sure though.  Nils overall had such a knack for these very delicate, but dense instrumentals.  My only real complaint about this album was that I thought Nils could push it a little father, being 39 minutes "Streichelfisch" is fairly short for this style.  But I do have to commend Nils though, for a fairly synthetic album it's completely full of life.   On his next release, Nils absolutely did push his sound further with his "Electric Piano".  This album is a subtle one, with most of Nils' instrumentals being limited to, you guessed it, an electric Piano.  Most of this album on top of that just comes off so lonely sounding.  But Nills ends up pulling it off in a really big way, coming up with a much longer and dense album this time around.  But it's also one that's just packed with emotion and haunting melodies.  In 2009 however, Nils really started working hard and coming out with some seriously wild material with "The Bells".  Up until now, I had obviously enjoyed Nils work.  But with "The Bells", I feel like Nils was in the right place, at the right time.  The instrumentals on this album were still increasingly bare, mostly just being Nils and his Piano for the most part.  But some of Nils ideas and progressions on this album were incredibly creative.  Not to mention, the production on this LP was miles ahead of the stuff Nils had been putting out prior.  2011's "Felt" was an album on the other hand that didn't hit me as much for Nils, at least not overall.  Tracks like "Kind" and "Unter" just didn't seem like tracks he would produce.  While tracks like these had their moments, they seemed drastically unfinished.  And it's a huge shame because some of the other tunes here proved to be some of Nils best yet, from the ultra sluggish and dramatic "Pause" to "Less", the latter being one of the loneliest sounding tunes Nils had touched yet.  "Felt" overall may have had some of Nils best standout tunes, but as an album did have a few hiccups.  Nils on his next project let me down even more, however.  Sadly, 2012's "Screws" just came off so lifeless to me.  There were obviously some very pretty moments here and there, but Nils sadly sounded like he through this one together quickly. However, his 2018 live album "Spaces" proved that Nils is a true Modern Classical master.  This live album, while it is certainly massive, is simply put, dazzling.  Nils's performances range from intense to beautiful, as Nils took many of his early material and stretched them well over 15 minutes occasionally.  Nils followed that up with 2015's "Solo", an album that wasn't nearly as gigantic or dazzling.  However, it was certainly pleasant to listen to and it was certainly beautiful.

   This album starts out with “The Whole Universe Wants To Be Touched”.  And well, this is certainly a very chilling, interesting intro to say the least.  I love the vocals that Nils is bringing in to his work, which are so airy and chilly, but at the same time full of life.  It’s a short, 2-minute intro, but it gives this tune a very classy feel, and really makes you feel like you’re moments away from an out-of-body experience.  Then we have “Sunson”, which starts out with these very massive, hulking and eerie synth notes.  It’s dreary, but it’s also full of life, and to an extent does sort of remind me of what Tim Hecker does occasionally.  To be honest, I would have liked to hear maybe some more of those vocals brought in.  But the pulsating synths that come in around the 2-minute mark, gives this the life that this track needs.  Obviously there, really isn’t a ton going on with “Sunson”, and Nils’s work remains incredibly cold and lonely sounding.  But, I do really love how vast this sounds.  Also, any fan of his epic live album “Spaces” will eat this up.  What follows next is incredible really, as all of these very otherworldly instrumentals pop in one by one, and end up making some mysterious funk.  “Sunson” is gorgeous, and just as mysterious as Nils wanted it to be.  Obviously, this isn’t as dainty and lonely and his early work.  But to be honest, I’ve never heard Nils this full of life, and it’s pretty remarkable.  “A Place” on the other hand, to an extent, does come off a little more in the vein of classic Nils work and focuses more on a Classical sound.  However, I do have to say I really feel like he’s nailed something with incorporating more synths and electronic elements.  Now, I Love a lot about this one, especially with Nils bringing back these vocalists for some seriously warm and inviting moments.  It ends up giving Nils music so much character.  But I do have to say, I’m not nearly as into the instrumental on this track, mostly because it’s not nearly a full of life as the last track.  There are some interesting elements right out of reach in those strings and other instrumentals.  But Nils seems not nearly as focused here.  Still, “A Place” leads to a very pleasant listen, and shows that even with Nils being a little more repetitive, he’s on the ball. On the other hand, “My Friend The Forest” is just so warm and cozy, and while it’s not nearly as intricate and full of life, it’s incredibly stunning.  Not only that, it’s just so simple.  And while it is on the simple side and essentially just Nils and his piano, it’s just so beautiful and heartfelt.  “My Friends The Forest” really brings back the loneliness of what Nils was doing years ago, but the sincerity of this is through the roof.  There aren’t any gimmicks, this doesn’t overstay its welcome, and most of all, it’s beautiful. 



    I feel like however what really makes this album tick is how mysterious it can be at times.  Take for example “Human Range”, with its distant synths and saxophone melodies that sound so alien.  All of that quickly creates almost this sort of Noire feeling that I can’t shake.  It’s just so smoky and different for Nils, it comes off like something you have heard on Twin Peaks.  The way “Human Range” creeps along, and each instrumental sort of slowly pops in, sometimes for a few notes and nothing more is just brilliant.  It’s a bizarre, strange tune that’s filled with mystery.  But after 3 minutes or so, I feel like Nils is almost stretching this idea too far.  So much so that when these haunting vocals join Nils, it’s downright exciting even though they really don’t do THAT much.  I don’t feel like this track needed to be 7 minutes, but there’s a lot of really great things about it that does make the majority of this listenable.  But at the end of the day, it’s always nice to just hear Nils with his piano like we do on “Forever Changeless”.  This is almost a blues number, being so somber in tone, practically bleeding emotion.  While this isn’t a visual wonder or a wild Classical journey, this is one of the more straightforward tuned here.  And honestly, I love to hear Nils this passionate, even if this is one of the shortest tracks here.  On the other hand, I really love the absolute mystery of “All Melody”.  Every keyboard note on this one is practically hidden in this whirl of ambient noise, and once again I love how live this track is coming off, I really can’t stress that enough.  It’s beautiful though, and it just seems completely endless which I totally vibe with.  But it’s the intensity of “All Melody” that makes this track work the most.  Nils just sounds so focused here, and I can’t get enough of that.  It’s an interesting tune, to say the least, and shows Nils where I like to see him the most, showing off his character.  And while this is far from the most vibrant or colorful track I’ve heard from Nils, I can’t help but love it.  “#2” on the other hand, is incredibly dark.  It almost has a bizarre Godspeed You! Black Emperor feel with all of the drone going on underneath.  The pulsating beat here is really intense as well.  But as “#2” roll on, I’m sort of disappointed with how much this one disintegrates.  Sure, there are some wild moments between these practically tribal synths and constantly growing drums.  But I just feel like all of this could have been a whole lot more interesting if the gigantic atmosphere that started off this track continued throughout. Not to mention, this one rolls on for almost 10 minutes, but I just don’t really see it.  Sadly, “#2” is one of the lesser moments for me here. However, I do really really love the very noisy, electronic climax towards the end.
    “Momentum” though shows that Nils is far from done with us with this absolutely massive intro.  There’s almost a sort of drone in the background, and the strings and vocals that follow make this one of the most hulking tracks here.  But on top of that, there’s some serious sorrow floating around here.  This is easily just as massively emotional as earlier tunes, but mixed with these bigger instrumentals and it’s almost overwhelming.  And I love how the drones eventually fade out, and we’re left with these sort of twinkling synths that Nils makes so lush and full of life.  I have to say, as far as the complete album, this is one of Nil’s finest works yet.  On the other hand, the very smokey, jazzy vibe of “Fundamental Values” is exactly what the doctor ordered.  This track once again has a really great Noire vibe, but at the same time really shows some great heart with these incredible piano melodies.  This track may be simple, but it’s moments like this that come off as some of Nils most emotional and personal. It’s heart-wrenching really, and if Nils wants to really just keep it simple and keep his arsenal to tunes like this, I certainly would be ok with that.  Then we have “Kaleidoscope” which is easily the most haunting thing we’ve heard in ages, equipped with some “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” synths.  It’s hulking and monolithic, and it really has a way of getting under your skin.  However, can Nils keep this up for its 8-minute runtime?  He’s obviously trying to keep things interesting with some oddly colorful keyboards that quickly follow.  For the most part, “Kaleidoscope” is decent.  While I wish Nils maybe switched things up a bit more, for what this is, it continues to be seriously vibrant and quite frankly beautiful, and some of the choir vocals that come in towards the end are enchanting.  This album ends off with “Harm Hymn”, which is easily the bluntest and straightforward track here.  At the very least, I should say this is the furthest thing from mysterious.  Sadly, there really isn’t that much of anything happening outside of some very prolonged instrumentals that are certainly pretty, but more than anything lifeless.  Sadly, they end up getting stretch all the way for 4 minutes, and just really don’t end up doing anything at all for a sort of disappointing ending.  

Rating: 7.9/10

Give A Listen To: "Sunson", "My Friend The Forest", "All Melody", "Momentum"

Genre: Neo Classical / Experimental / Drone / Ambient / Avant-Garde

Overall Thoughts:  Remember years ago when people said Nils Frahm’s “Spaces” was as close as you could get to Nils’s stunning live performances?  Well “All Melody” is just about as close as you can get to “Spaces” from a studio album.  This is easily his most diverse and eclectic album yet by far, incorporating some soulful vocals as well as some very cool Noire vibes.  The only real issue I have here are some of the song lengths.  Most of the time, Nils can handle himself just fine, leading to some of his most interesting songs yet.  But there are also tracks here that go on far too long without good concepts to stand on.  Still, as far as a studio album goes, this may be Nils’s finest.