Nick Zanca - Hindsight (2024)

While Hindsight is Nick Zanca's debut effort under his own name, the New York-based musician and producer is far from a beginner; his electronic-based work under the Mister Lies moniker is often entrancing and well-worth seeking out in its own right. But after stepping away from that persona for a while and working with artists like Wendy Eisenberg, Zanca's musically mellifluous splash with Hindsight explores a new musical strand: elegant and elaborate art-pop-rock with roots in acts like late '60s Beach Boys, Randy Newman, Todd Rundgren and non-touring-era XTC to name just a few fellow spirits. It can be a tricky field to stand out in, but Hindsight has the gift of sounding surprisingly and engagingly fresh in its 2020s moment by being specifically itself and out of sonic sync with so much of its surroundings. Its eight songs are textured, often sweetly swinging and swooning beauties such as the winning shimmer of "Screen Test" and the mix of experimental ambience and contemplation on the title track. A number of musical guests help proceedings (among others, Eisenberg is credited as "editrix" while Mari Maurice of More Eaze does double duty on strings and pedal steel), but it's all clearly Zanca's strong vision—his attractively clear, warm singing and engaging lyrics on life and love standing forth throughout. A strong highlight: "Debt We Pay," which has some of the nervously elegant energy of a song like Joe Jackson's "Stepping Out" but which Zanca absolutely makes his own in turn. ~Ned Raggett

1.01 - Nick Zanca - Not An Artist (BGM) (3:59)
1.02 - Nick Zanca - Screen Test (4:17)
1.03 - Nick Zanca - Little Professor (3:11)
1.04 - Nick Zanca - Debt We Pay (7:00)
1.05 - Nick Zanca - You Two (5:05)
1.06 - Nick Zanca - Hindsight (7:05)
1.07 - Nick Zanca - Softshoe (5:20)
1.08 - Nick Zanca - The Party Stops (WIP) (4:46)