4 out of 5

Label: un-je-ne-sais-quoi

Produced by: Thackery Earwicket

They’ve (he?  she?) done creepy, they’ve done hip-hop and synth-pop, they’ve done WTF-weird with the soundtrack to Les Cosmoronds; there’s definitely been a darkwave backing to this the whole way through, but Thackery Earwicket stood out, for me, due to all of the above variations they committed to the theme, while hiding behind this name that gives me no clue as to his / her / their identity, further separating TE from a scene that often relies on a certain abstraction from the music.

Earwicket’s label, un-je-ne-sais-quoi, has generally given quite advance notice of their releases, including that of Thackery’s, so I’ve normally had a fair amount of time to get a little amped up and wonder what’s next.  NOX, however, dropped seemingly at random, making me worried I was going to get another outing like that soundtrack – which is really just a recording of a French show, besides Thackery’s theme – but as the deliriously beautiful, swoony, mysterious synths of opener 24-24 kicked in, it seemed that wouldn’t be the case.  NOX, at moments, has the group committing moreso to darkwave, and without distraction, but Thackery Earwicket once again stamps a sense of identity on things: with horns that close out 24-24, it becomes clear how organic and grounded their sound is, coming closer to the kind of raw synths of early Carpenter scores.  There’s also an amazing amount of patience here, taking their time to drop in drumbeats, simmering in a haze of keys and ambience, the latter of which proves to be an integral part of NOX, as head-bobbing tracks alternate with soundscapes: of static, of tones.  Heading into the album’s second half, there are some opportunities to expand on this that the album doesn’t take – Nitework is begging for a breakdown at the end, for example – but the short length prevents this from overtaking the brilliance of what’s there, with the night-stalking wonder of Etoile Noire preceding the gentle piano closer of Star, a word which hovers amidset neon on the minimalist cover image.

A really impressive effort from one of the most intriguing bands – or people, or whatever – to have splintered off of the darkwave scene.