Nation of Language All Our Friends: Under the Radar’s

we got interviewed by someone who thought that because of our ’80s New Wave infuences, we were teens back then. When she arrived at the interview she said, “You guys look a lot younger than I thought you’d be.” [Laughs].

It’s more than just hearing these past bands in your music though. On A Way Forward, it’s as if that style is channeling through you more majestically. I hear more of a vibrant, celestial space that these melodies of the past are leaping into. I’m curious to know how that’s achieved production-wise.

Ian: Part of it is that the producers and engineers we worked with are so amazing, but we were having discussions before and during the recording related to what it is about that era of synth music that is so distinct and magical. I was also exposed to new things I hadn’t heard much when we were recording, like Laurie Spiegel and other early electronic artists. Sometimes when people make ’80s inspired music, there can be a bit of kitsch involved, but the earlier you go, that kind of gets eliminated. There’s no kitsch with Laurie Spiegel. We’re treating it with sincerity as opposed to a wink and a nod.

“No one would have ever heard of Nation of Language if Aidan wasn’t in the band. I might not have even told people I made music.”

– Ian Richard Devaney

Speaking of Laurie Spiegel, I noticed you use that sort of use of arpeggio synth on songs like “In Manhattan” and “Former Self.”

Ian: Yes, there’s a blending of arpeggios going on in those songs and it was about trying to live in that similar space of things fowing over each other and cascading. It was so much fun to try those things in the studio. Aidan: It’s defnitely a new and exciting pocket for the band to live in. Ian’s voice fows so well over that. We were listening to a test pressing of the record yesterday and I had just gotten my eyes dilated so I was letting it all fow into my ears with my eyes closed. I got this rush of tingles because I was hearing so many sounds layered up. But you don’t feel overwhelmed by it. It’s very textural.

Some of your lyrics come across to me like haiku. For instance: “Crawl my way/Anytime/Rapid, Indirect Feelings/I qualify.” These little passages that you’re left to fgure out in your own way as a listener.

Ian: Something I defnitely strove to do more of on this record was to spend more time with the lyrics and create little vignettes of my life and my past. It’s nice to hear people at shows come up and talk about what these little moments mean to them or how they’re interpreting them. It’s really gratifying to hear because I spend a lot of time listening back through the songs and thinking that something about a line doesn’t feel right. There’s a lot of editing and re-editing. “A Word and A Wave” is a good example. Originally it was just the frst verse and it had established this little world so clearly for me that the second verse I added just fowed out immediately. I don’t usually write that fast. It was cool that the walls had been built around me with that frst verse and I knew what that place was.

What’s it like for you guys as a married couple in an artistic endeavor? Are there strengths and weaknesses that the other one balances out?

Ian: More than balancing out strengths and weaknesses, it’s trying to keep each other inspired and creative. Aidan: I have unfettered confdence in Ian and I’m his champion trying to push him towards everyone, which he won’t necessarily do on his own. I’m happy that I can help him present himself to the world but in an integral way and not just as his wife on the side going, “He’s great!” I force him to do things because I know what’s possible for him. I have big dreams for him. Ian: No one would have ever heard of Nation of Language if Aidan wasn’t in the band. I might not have even told people I made music.

How aware are you of being a New York band? I’m from here and I haven’t been as excited about a New York band since the early 2000s. No disrespect to the bands that emerged here in the past few years but there hasn’t been that breakout group for a while. I feel like you guys are a big jolt to the scene here.

Aidan: I feel like that comes up a lot. People keep saying that there hasn’t really been a New York scene that’s known outside the city for a while. Ian: All those bands really felt like New York bands, but from what I’ve gathered, history has written all of them as being closer than they actually were. So, if there’s a scene like that beginning again, I might not know about it. Growing up with my dad being into bands like Blondie and Talking Heads and the whole ’70s New York scene and me being in high school when The Strokes and Interpol and Yeah Yeah Yeahs were my favorite bands, it felt like we were getting our own little version of that. I defnitely want to be known as a New York band.

I don’t want to boost you too high but it felt amazing to hear a voice like yours in this scene again. Tunde Adebimpe, and Karen O, and Paul Banks, and Hamilton Leithauser all had these distinct, powerful voices.

Ian: They really did. It was an era of incredible front people.

You have that kind of voice. My heart just soars when I hear it.