WL//WH Review NNHMN “Deception Island 2” EP
NNHMN, Live
2017-2020 and NNHMN seem like never stop creating music and learning how to expose their sonic art as well as their brand new machinery in their studio. October 2020 saw Lee Margot and Michal Laudarg (NNHMN) publishing the missing half as the missing sequel of July’s electro-tale ‘Deception Island 1’ EP. What excites me the most in this amazing act is that they do not stop looking for questions in their every own release, in their every colored moon and phase.
NNHMN is a Polish duo based in Berlin and on October 27 they cast ‘Deception Island 2’ EP via Oraculo Records in all formats (vinyl, cassette, and digital). It was a certain need for them and us to disappear in the follow up of the previous Island 1. It felt like something was missing in their ‘annual narration’ and everybody (DJs, bloggers, fans) was asking about the strange number ‘1’ and when and if will be another new Island…2!
Maybe it was a quest between Margot and Laudarg on where to drive their new songs, maybe it was the needed creative break between two records that 99% of the musicians need, maybe something else happened and the duo decided to split 2020’s tracks into two EPs, or… as everything came by the same shot. But the truth is that NNHMN‘s music varies from year to year and not from record to record as they publish records annually that expose and bridge their course over time. The seeds of Deception Island 1+2 were sown in 2019’s releases ‘Second Castle’ EP, ‘Church Of No Religion’ LP, and in the peculiar ‘special/scars’ little record, and this year they present an amazing and a clear turn to minimal-synthetic-electrocution.
It is always fun for the fans to create unofficial videos for their fave songs and in NNHMN‘s case we saw Zauber unveil his short film for ‘Education Lost’, included in ‘Deception Island 2’. Let’s watch it and I have a few more to say next.
An official video now for ‘Cold Eyes’ is in the works and it all looks like we’ll have the complete picture of the ‘Islands’ pretty soon. Musically, 2020 was like dictating NNHMN where to look for treasures in their sheer talent. 2020 was obviously tenser than 2019 for the band, as they both threw away the tunic of darkwave and the diadem of the industrial ambient realm. I believe that they will come back there again but not so soon, you see, their new studio space with their new hardware paraphernalia enchanted them and made a huge impact on their sounds and their music. And if NNHMN was always fond of danceable tunes now they updated their ammo they are ready to battle on the dancefloors because 2020 sounds like it was an artistic apocalypse to them in the roots of minimalism, techno-absolutely, electro, and the required spoken word poems and other findings by the woman at the front.
Is the machine the core of such bands? Or is it a dagger in their hands? I don’t really know if I have the answer but whatever it is NNHMN has it both; it cannot be all accidental in such releases and twists, and if you try to study their records until now you will discover a quite versatile act that is never afraid to expose their own interests and agonies, a band which is never afraid of changes and a very talented and compact team. As for 2020, NNHMN ‘s shout is loud and clear; to bring the soundtrack of the cities on electro-to-techno wings with the needed hypnotic chants by Lee. Trust them and listen loud to the stories of ‘Deception Island 2’!!!
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NNHMN, BERLIN 2020
Written by Loud Cities' Mike
