Outsider is the outstanding follow up to People Feel which introduced the forthcoming EP and garnered huge radio support
Track: Outsider
Band: Nixer
Released: February 17 2022
We all suffer highs and lows, the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. It’s how we deal with them that makes a difference.
Less than a week since Nixer front man Seán was caught up in the horrific floor collapse at the Two More Years bar in Hackney (he was DJing there), the duo release their second single Outsider from upcoming EP people feel. Let’s hope this allows him to lay down some more positive music memories and move on from that night.
Outsider lodges neatly at track number three on Nixer’s debut EP. It follows up on their first hit of 2022, People Feel, which was praised and played by Lauren Laverne, Steve Lamacq, Jack Saunders and Gemma Bradley.
Although Outsider was of course recorded months ago, by a strange twist the setting for the track is in a party situation (where indeed the lads could be DJing), as evidenced by the snatches of chatter at the start. Initially it's one of their least electronic tracks as the opening chatter gives way to a proto goth guitar line, worthy of Bauhaus or The Cure. It is also reminiscent of a 60s surf guitar sound; there's alot going on here and it has a disorientating effect. The syncopated beats bring it bang up to date as Seán's sprechgesang sets the scene. His lyrics match the uneasy music as he intones "she's not a North or a South sider, she's an outsider."
Seán expands on the story - ‘Outsider welcomes, or unwelcomes, two characters to the narrative. The song deals with isolation and the feeling of being unwanted but from the perspective of the empathetic observer. The track opens with discrete chatter about these ‘other’ people, but as the track develops we learn that the song is about worry and concern for others, rather than the exclusion of them.
As we learnt from their first release, People Feel is a concept EP tracing and tracking a night out from corner shop to crossroads. With this second release, it's becoming clear that they have an outstanding control of managing mood and feeling using their music's production.
Listen to Outsider followed by People Feel and you'll see what we mean. This is a remarkable track, adding to the anticipation of being able to hear the whole story.
Taken on its own, this new single is an outstanding musical & lyrical exploration of being excluded and surely their best release yet. Added to the other five tracks on the EP - only your imagination can limit you.
Other reviews of People Feel
You can find Nixer on this vinyl compilation available in our shop
and also on this CD collection of their first five releases
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