The first few seconds of Near Northeast‘s Indali are ethereal, almost like the sound we imagine people hear when they are approaching the gates of heaven. Slowly creeping through the ambiance are reverb heavy guitar lines, keeping the music somewhere in between shoegaze and indie pop, with the legato feel helping the music steer clear of twee.
A certain seriousness is essential for the song given its subject matter: a mother and child being dragged out to sea by riptide. The video’s visuals underscore the tragedy in the music, with images of playful beachgoers intermingled with footage of people being drowned in tsunamis. As drummer Antonio Skarica put it in an interview with DC Music Download, “The line is so thin between carefree frolicking and complete destruction.”
Near Northeast’s new album True Mirror drops May 3rd. You can catch the album release show at St Stephen’s church on Newton St this Friday night.
-Written by Michael Dranove