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- April 23, 2022
DIVE INTO A MYSTICAL MELANCHOLIC FAIRYTALE WITH NICOLE FAUX NAIV’S DEBUT ALBUM MOON RALLY
Get ready to let Nicole Faux Naiv carry you through dreams, space, and time with her debut album Moon Rally. The German-born newcomer enchants with dream-pop vibes and a lo-fi charm. Her album published on April 8th, follows the recently pre-release of the LP’s “Tomorrow Was A Summer Day in 2001” and before that released Moon Rally’s title track as well as “Imaginary Boy.”
It took the music newbie several years to find her glamorous psych-pop sound and finally create something to her meaningful and personal with this record. Moon Rally is an emotional journey of self-contemplation and exploration. Her songs aim at capturing the deep sadness that the monotony of everyday life can cause to weigh down on you. Nicole dived deep into the Russian-centric culture of her Kazakh and Kyrgyz parents to find the metaphors and unique style to express herself.
I grew up with this culture a lot, it was present all the time. So I was really interested in watching old movies and listening to more Russian music. I’ve got more interested in the whole culture.
Nicole Faux Naiv
Together with her Berlin-based label, she created a multicultural mix of music that combines French synth-pop, and old soviet movie soundtracks with guitar lines as well as real drums, violin, piano, and cello for added depth. On the album’s 10 tracks, Nicole continues to live out her colorful background by incorporating both English and Russian language songs.
With 5 min length the title track “Moon Rally” definitely is more than just a quick listen, but it is worth your time. From the slowly building Tchaikovsky allures in its mysterious opening minute to something far more pronounced, Nicole’s voice dancing within a backdrop of swirling synths and punchy drums gives me major Berlin vibes. It is impossible to pinpoint exactly what it is but it has that je-ne-sais-quoi that makes her tone so distinctively German.
After a sweet, slow interval until the second minute the beat picks up and the song transforms into a pop-ier more upbeat tune. Thanks to the heavy synths, the style feels almost retro as if it could play on the radio among the likes of Cyndi Lauper and Blondie.
“Imaginary Boy” highlights the album’s brighter side; bouncy, and sharp three minutes that melds an icy exterior with a more sorrowful heart. Nicole Faux Naiv sings about a lost or unattainable love who takes up space in her head, “It’s just a delusion, a daydream”. The song is so raw and soul-bearing, addressing a topic that we are just too familiar with. Who hasn’t found himself daydreaming about a crush, knowing that will never be more than a fantasy? The song involuntarily transports you to those vulnerable teenage heartbreak years and lets you relive parts of your forgotten past. A beautiful tune that makes you face the past and appreciate the growth.
Elsewhere, “Теплое море“, sung entirely in Russian, is a wide-eyed song about escaping the cold realities of life and heading for the coast to appreciate the dream-like atmosphere that such a place holds, a reminder not to take life too seriously.
A lot of the songs are about dreams – daydreams and normal dreams and also memories from my childhood. You have these different fragments of memory and some of them are very colorful, and some of them are very strange.
Nicole Faux Naiv
Magical, fantastical, and strangely bizarre: The music video to “До свидания навсегда” (farewell forever) opens up a key memory of Nicole’s (and also my own) childhood. The characters, camera frames, and hazy images instantly transport me back to the time I was a little girl sitting in front of the TV in Poland at my grandmother’s house, watching the Russian Sunday fairytales. In fact, it seems that we share even those memories. Nicole Faux Naiv heavily drew inspiration from old Russian cartoons to grasp that essence of childlike innocence to feed it into her song. Sadly, my Russian is a little rusty so I can’t tell how far this reflects in the lyrics. But sometimes you just need to open yourself up and let the music carry you to emotional places.
Check out all the enticing songs of Moon Rally and let yourself submerge in the beautifully bitter daydream that Nicole Faux Naiv creates. Which is your fav track on the record? Anyone else feels like they can relate to the childhood memories that influenced the tunes? Share your opinion with us below or on our socials!
