City of Quartz by Nick Diamonds (3/5)

Must Hear Tracks: “Love is Stranger” “Witch Window” “Something About the Moon”

Let me set the scene: it’s a cool September evening. The beer garden is nestled between two three-story brick buildings. The wall to my left is decorated with an massive colorful mural. The wall to my right is covered with vines. The stage in front of me is humble. Only a couple feet higher than the patio, maybe 20 feet wide, it makes for a very intimate venue. Mike N Molly’s in Champaign, Illinois is the location. The final set of the night (Saturday, September 26th) at Pygmalion Music Festival is about to begin.

Nick Diamonds (of The Unicorns, Islands, and Mister Heavenly) takes the stage, looking like the leader of Peter Pan’s Fight Club. His friendly, youthful face is contrasted with a black, zipper-covered, bomber jacket. He is surrounded by instruments: a keyboard, a drum pad, a microphone, and his guitar all sit within arm’s reach. Throughout the show he would jump from instrument to instrument fluidly. His calm confidence was apparent from the crowd. Onstage, he is joined by one other musician, a keyboard player wearing a black blazer, sans undershirt. After a brief soundcheck, Diamonds and his accomplice proceeded to throw a truly fun, low-key dance party for the 20 or so drunken concertgoers who didn’t want to go home.

The soundtrack for this dance party (unbeknownst to me at the time) was Diamonds’ newest release: City of Quartz. Following the show, I dug into the recording and found it to be almost as enjoyable as the live rendition. While I might be biased due to the initial joy of the concert, I still highly recommend City of Quartz. It’s an album that contains elements of dub (The Mind Reels, and the outro of What Can the Sun), hard electo-house (I’m Nobody), and Unicorns-esque scatterbrained pop (Witch Window, Something About the Moon). These diverse influences compliment a minimalist electro-pop current which is present throughout the album.

Unfortunately, City of Quartz is top heavy. “Love is Stranger” and “Witch Window” are two of the strongest tracks on the album, and yet they occur as tracks two and three. This causes the album to peak within the first six minutes. With such a lean pairing so early in the album, less impressive tracks that occur later in the album (Ungrievable Lives, Hit the Skids) have an augmented negative effect on the overall experience. Nick Diamonds’ songwriting skills are consistent enough that most of the tracks that occur after the early peak are still impactful and quite enjoyable (The Mind Reels, Bohemian Groove, Something About the Moon), though not as enjoyable they could be if the track list was rearranged.

Another potentially divisive aspect of City of Quartz is Nick Diamonds’ uncanny ability to make every aspect of the album sound subdued. His soft voice retains that quality even when he’s belting out some triumphant melody. His guitar is often shrouded in reverb. His synthesizers often sound muffled. While this theme gives the album a more unified vibe, that vibe may put some to sleep.

The flip side to the “subdued sound” coin is that most of City of Quartz sounds easy. Easy to make, easy to listen to, and comforting for that reason. The playful aura that surrounds this set of songs works against any inclination to call City of Quartz boring. There’s an inspiring attitude of laid-back confidence that can be found on the album’s strongest tracks, which gives them a much longer shelf-life than the album as a whole. My final thought is that City of Quartz is an album that seems to reflect the personality of its creator. It is subdued and quirky, abrasive yet inviting. As he was leaving the stage following his encore, Diamonds threw up two middle fingers and quietly muttered a “fuck you” to the crowd. Not five seconds later he corrected himself: “Just kidding, I love you guys.” Abrasive, yet inviting, indeed.