Undulating like an actual feather in an updraft, actual song “Feathers” undulates in the updraft of Nomadic Firs’ buoyant songcraft. The track is weightless, fully: weightless melodies, weightless rhythms, weightless vocals — essentially a spirit that passes over you for two minutes and forty-six seconds before dissipating into the ether it initially formed from. This should not be a surprise to anyone familiar with the Firs’ (aka Ryan Boos) output, but the frequency of said output has dwindled since around 2012, so this little delight is a welcome reminder that Nomadic Firs are still making music in the year 2017. And there’s even the promise of more tunes on the way!
“Feathers,” featuring Open Channel (gimme a sec, I’ll get there), has a way-laid-back tropical vibe, as if Boos spent the five intervening years since his excellent self-titled tape on Crash Symbols (among other odds and ends) sipping mai tais poolside by an island bungalow. We all know he wasn’t — he’s a responsible adult after all, just like the rest of us. But he channels that feeling, even though lyrics about cities and lovesickness and snowmen fight to get through the reverie. They don’t overcome, and we drift with the breeze, with Nomadic Firs and Open Channel to vibe out forever in sheer bliss.
There’s a wrinkle to this story, and it’s that Boos is Open Channel alongside Chicago producer Adam Stoltz! I’ll give you a sec to massage the kinks out of your neck after that whiplash-inducing double-take. But seriously folks, the duo figured “Feathers” had that “Nomadic Firs sound,” and so they applied some gymnastic semantics to the project’s facts for a satisfactory release. Meaning, really, that there’s a lot more Open Channel stuff on the way, as these two masters of karate and friendship and soundboard wizardry surely have brains full of ideas that they’re simply going to fling at each other via Skype or FaceTime or Dropbox or whatever. Technology makes things easy!
In the meantime, stream “Feathers” below, and stay tuned — there might be a sequel to this Chocolate Grinder post in the works!
[Visit full site to view media]Feathers (feat. open channel) by Nomadic Firs