Boston-raised, Lyon, France-based artist Nathan Meunier channels the emotional disorientation of leaving home into A Godforsaken Place Will Once Again Recover, his newest EP as Nomeno. The four-song release traces lost relationships, lingering memories, and the difficult process of opening oneself to what comes next, through a variety of folk and rock.
Flickering guitar pulses craft a serenely absorbing captivation, while the lead presence emerges with a hypnotic yearning: “The brick in my pocket weighs a ton without you.” The guitars and delivery swell with steady momentum, stirring in its “nothing will change” drive to steady rhythms and a more rock-minded demeanor. The initial subdued introspection, ruminating on a state of personal emptiness after leaving home and seeing past relationships vanish, builds into an artful metaphor of being “the sharpening stone” — where one sharpens others at their own expense.
Ensuing track “I Think I Met an Angel!” is the most rock-centric sound on the EP, leading with electric guitar jangles. The lyricism shifts between a smitten state — “I think I met an angel” — and the subsequent refusal to embrace change and self-betterment, philosophizing on the lingering impact of not being ready for a relationship. Backing harmonies envelop as well, as does a feverish grunge-touched finale with absorbing performance layers and twanging guitar fervor. “For You, I Let Time Pass” then shifts back to a lusher folk realm, bolstered by calming harmonica aspects as well. “For you, I let time pass,” the phrasing resonates into especially memorable acoustics and harmonica, reflecting on “part of myself I left behind” while further exploring the impact of moving away.
EP finale “Oxygen Eyes” is a gorgeous piece of songwriting, conjuring a Sufjan Stevens-like ghostliness as trickling acoustics, gentle piano, and ethereal tones assemble poetically. “The green fields we grew upon, have long turned to ash,” the delivery lets out, conveying the shift from adolescence to adulthood, with warming visions of nostalgia lingering even in the midst of those days being gone. The erosion of these green fields is a lovely summation of the album’s themes, where the vivid depictions of previous life are still strongly imprinted in the mind, all while knowing the necessity of moving on, finding new relationships, and letting go of past baggage — ultimately vying to love again, through beautiful vocal harmonies that linger from midpoint to conclusion. A Godforsaken Place Will Once Again Recover is a fantastic EP from Nomeno.
