ALBUM REVIEW: Nada Surf is Back, Gazing into the ‘Moon Mirror’

Thirty years after their debut single – and four since their last album – Nada Surf is back. Their new album, Moon Mirror, is their first on New West Records. Appropriate to their new label, the band includes some touches of Laurel Canyon into their familiar mix of alternative and power pop.

Co-produced by Nada Surf and Ian Laughton (Supergrass, Ash), Moon Mirror represents a step forward for the band, with lush layered vocals and more melodic arrangements than on previous efforts. Lyrically, it’s familiar with frontman Matthew Caws delivering the same literate musical poetry that has made the band popular for three decades.

There isn’t an overarching concept on Moon Mirror, but there is a thread running through the album, a longing for acceptance and a commitment to unplug from an increasingly connected, yet distant, world. Nowhere is that thread more present than in the first single, “In Front of Me Now.” Here, Caws laments his many mistakes (“Why wasn’t I present? / I could have been listening”) but commits to focus on the now (“Today / I do what’s in front of me now”).

The album’s title track shows off Nada Surf’s evolved sound, with lush, layered vocals on the chorus that is evocative of The Byrds. Again, there’s a longing for human contact (“Make me a part of something / Somewhere”). Further, a pair of rare ballads punctuate just how far Nada Surf has moved on Moon Mirror. “New Propeller,” the album’s second single, continues the quest for completion. Its acoustic strum and rock-steady drum beat anchor Caws’ assurance that “You won’t be replaced.” Album closer “Floater” is Moon Mirror’s slowest burn, with a near-falsetto by Caws and close harmonies on the bridge.

Elsewhere on Moon Mirror is a wide variety of styles. “Second Skin” hews closest to the power pop of the band’s past releases. “Intel and Dreams” is a pure hook-laden rocker. “Losing” is a jangly mid-tempo song that pulls inspiration from the British Invasion. “Give Me the Sun” is a mixture of all of those genres that could have not worked in less deft hands, but are melded seamlessly by Nada Surf.

Moon Mirror may come as a surprise to longtime fans of the group. It’s certainly a leap into uncharted territory for a band whose sound has remained relatively consistent throughout their thirty years. But the changes fit Nada Surf and the result is one of the best albums of their long career.