Nad Sylvan - The Bride Said No (2017)

In a sense, that tip of the tongue speculation is both one of the great draws and one of the drawbacks of Nad’s forthcoming long-player The Bride Said No. Obviously he’s coming in with a fair amount of Hackett-shaped baggage, but it’s difficult to completely shake the nagging feeling that he might at any time break into a medley of The Musical Box / Supper’s Ready or present a ready Ian Anderson cackle (coincidentally drummer Doane Perry is among those who serve). At one point he even makes a move on the middle ground occupied by the artists formerly known as Stiltskin. Obviously, if that sounds like your bag, then you’re going to be high in hog heaven by the end of this satisfyingly 33 RPM record-sized collection of brash and blustering epics.

It’s not entirely derivative by any means. There’s a lovely modern sheen to the production – especially the drums – which thankfully doesn’t extend to over-polishing the vocals. Nad remains in satisfyingly human form throughout (ironically, given that much of this album is given over to a concept involving a Vampire, that may not have been his intention) and the high notes are all clearly his own. I’m still not entirely sure if on Quartermaster he doesn’t employ an offhand, endearingly blokey “Oh, you c*nt” part way through, but that’s what it sounded like at the time. Elsewhere, a couple of lovely duet voices materialise, sounding like they’re in the same vocal booth, let alone the same room.