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A Chat With: Nation of Language

NYC’s Nation of Language has been a long-time favorite of ANCHR— it’s hard not to be instantly mesmerized by Ian Devaney and Aidan Noell’s refreshing take on beloved 80’s synth and New Wave influences. Nation of Language packs the familiar punch of nostalgia but also sparks the sensation of a breath of fresh air with their unique spin on an iconic foundation.

Following the release of their debut full-length record over Lockdown 1.0 (aka the Spring of 2020), a growing fanbase began to cultivate from the connection that listeners felt with Introduction, Presence. When live music could finally pick back up, Nation of Language toured and played sold out shows during the Fall of 2021—already gearing up for their sophomore album A Way Forward that was released in November of 2021. The duo has been back on the road this year in honor of that second album, and we caught up with Devaney and Noell before they played their show at Thalia Hall in Chicago earlier this month. Tune into the conversation below to hear which albums got them through quarantine, who they’d love to work with on scoring a film, their plans for future music and more.

Ian Devaney and Aidan Noell. Photo courtesy of Pias/Nation of Language


ANCHR Magazine: What do you recall as your first musical memory? Either with creating music or becoming a big fan of it?

Aidan Noell: As a child, my parents had home videos of me performing on the fireplace, like stepping up onto the little ledge of the fireplace and singing and dancing for people.

Did you have a Fisher Price microphone set?

A: No I would just use whatever, like a baton or child’s golf club or something. They called it the Aiden Noell Swanson show.  I would just perform for anyone who would let me perform.

Ian Devaney: I have an early memory of I was in a Sunday School room. My mom worked at the church so I was always there waiting for her to finish. I have this very early memory of dancing around with dolls and singing “Should I Stay or Should I Go” by The Clash and someone walking by and me being like mortified that I was dancing with stuffed animals and singing.

A: They do say that the strongest memories that last the longest are shame or embarrassment. 

Well there you go! Fast forward to current day though, it’s been about five months since the release of A Way Forward. Can you talk about a highlight of creating that album?

I: Just getting started on it at all was such a highlight because we were totally locked down before that and we had no idea how long it would last, so the fact that we would bike up to North Brooklyn every day. It’s like a 30 minute bike ride, and to have that structure and regular creativity be able to happen was so refreshing. The fact that we didn’t know when it was gonna end felt very kind of free and open ended, like we weren’t on an intense time constraint.

A: The whole thing was a very pleasant experience. 

I: Yeah it was very nice.

Nice, it was a routine without a strict deadline. As I understand it, the whole process behind A Way Forward was very different from the process with Introduction, Presence because that was a long timeline of creating the first album.

I: That’s right, we basically had to work around our work schedules. Aidan was a nanny and I was working in cafes and restaurants and it was kind of like whatever days you could not work, you’d get into the studio. So it was spread out over a long period of time.

Totally. A lot of people have said with your debut album, that those songs got them through quarantine and lockdown. Even though you weren’t able to tour with it, you had many people listening to it. I’m curious if you have any artists or albums that got you through the initial lockdown?

A: I had a bunch of weird phases during the initial lockdown because we weren’t really doing much of anything outside of the apartment, so I was going through a lot of music documentaries on YouTube while I would sew or whatever in my bedroom. So I watched Bananas, which is the Gorillaz documentary, and it got me down this huge wormhole of Damon Albarn and I watched like every Blur documentary that’s on YouTube, which had a lot of live footage. So I had this amazing Blur phase—I mean I hadn’t really listened to them before other than that one song that everyone knows, and now I’m obsessed with them and they were definitely something that got me through quarantine even though they weren’t new.

I: I think this was also pre-quarantine, but Titanic Rising, the Weyes Blood album was definitely something I was listening to a lot. And have been listening to a lot of this trip.

For a second I thought you were going to say the Titanic soundtrack. Celine Dion all the way!

I: No joke though, also the Titanic soundtrack! I went through a huge phase of listening to the Titanic soundtrack. We used to leave the stage to the instrumental theme from it.

That’s awesome. This is really embarrassing but like two years ago, my top Spotify song was like a random James Horner song from the soundtrack because I would fall asleep to it. 

A: It’s so soothing! 

Anything else that you got into over quarantine?

A: I definitely started listening to a lot of Dry Cleaning during the latter part of quarantine. I loved that album, it’s so good.

I: While we were recording, between us and the producers we were sharing all this music back and forth. Laurie Spiegel is like an early electronic instrumentalist who has this album called The Expanding Universe and it’s just super cool music to just sit down and space out to. It goes so many interesting places, so that’s definitely something that kind of worked its way into our creative brains.

Very cool! When I was listening to A Way Forward, the first song “In Manhattan” had a very visual effect on me. I feel like I could picture the main character in a movie driving in a cab at night looking up at the New York skyline or running toward the subway in their morning commute. Have you ever considered or would you like to do a soundtrack for a movie or TV show?

A: Oh definitely. That’s definitely a goal.

I: Yeah, it’s super cool whenever there’s any sort of opportunity to have something set to film. There’s even been a couple things with skate videos or ski videos, so even that sort of non-scripted atmospheric vibe is really cool to see your music contextualized in that way.

Is there a dream director or cast you’d like to work with?

I: I mean if Paul Thomas Anderson ever wants to…

Let’s Manifest this for you!

I: Yeah, PTA look out!

A: Listen up!

Well on the subject of really cool things that have happened, you recently made a late night TV debut on the Colbert Show, you played some festivals last year and had a lot of sold out shows. Is there anything else on your bucket list that you’re hoping 2022 might bring?

A: We’re doing a lot of things that were on my bucket list.

I: It’s kind of like, I would feel greedy to think that I could desire more. I am looking forward to in addition to more touring and just being out to new places and meeting a lot of our fans for the first time, to also find time to hole up and write. I think that will be an exciting thing for me. And maybe I’ll go somewhere for a week and try to write there.

Like a writer’s retreat?

I: Yeah exactly, cause I’ve always just written everything seated at my desk in our apartment. So the idea of going somewhere else is appealing.

Where would be your ideal spot? If money and time weren’t an issue.

I: Oooh, money or time not an issue! Maybe Berlin or Tokyo, or Paris…

A: Yeah somewhere where there’s the option to be in the city and also the option to go to a very old rural place. A decrepit castle…

I: Even like up in the country upstate sounds very nice, even though that’s a very manageable retreat.

Have you noticed, it sounds like you usually write at your desk, but if you’re in different environments and out on the road writing, does that influence your writing style?

I: Yeah I think it can. Back when I used to live at home when I was younger I would try to change what room I was in and it does feel like it can. Even just listening to the same demo in a different room can give you a fresh perspective on what needs to be happening. 

A: Listening to your demos in the car on tour…it like reinvigorates you on the songs you’ve already written. So getting the opportunity to try to write outside of the house would probably unlock new things. 

Do you have anything in the works since the album came out?

I: Yeah there’s a number of songs and some of them, I feel like every album kind of overlaps the other one. So some of these had already been started when we were writing and recording the second album.

A: And they just weren’t exactly the right curatorial fit to be on that album. 

I: I kind of like writing as much as possible and then stepping back and sorting ok this is first album, this is second album, this is third album. It kind of lets you write whatever you want without worrying about ‘no this is supposed be a shoegaze record, I can’t have this kind of song on here!’

Yeah you can be like I’ll put this on the sixth album!

I: Exactly!

So do you find that you write a song for an album and then kind of stick to that theme for the rest of the songs? Or it comes together after the fact?

I: It mostly comes together after the fact. I think sometimes I do get into rhythms where like these four songs written within this concise period of time all really focus on a bass riff and that can provide glue for a record that you can attach other things to. I try not to limit the ideas to fit to what the record might be.

A: It can be frustrating if you’re like I need to write a tenth song for this album but it has to fit! If you sit down with that frame around you, it can be very limiting and frustrating.

Well, talking about the live show now, I actually saw you live for the first time in Brooklyn opening for the Wombats. I think someone else was actually supposed to open that tour so I went in blind, but instantly went to favorite some of your singles on Spotify while you were still playing.

I: That’s amazing.

I was wondering if there’s anyone you remember in recent years, well before the pandemic maybe, but New York gets a lot of live music coming through. So was there anyone you discovered after going in kind of blind?

A: Didn’t you go see Fontaines without really knowing what they sounded like at first?

I: Yeah I guess that was pre-pandemic but my friend was like ‘this band Fontaines DC is playing Union Pool” which is like a 250 person room. I was like yeah sure, not really knowing anything about it and it was awesome. Then our first show back, we went to see the opening band. It was our friends Gustaf.

Oh I love Gustaf. They’re here tomorrow

A: Yeah they’re on the same tour trajectory as us. We got to see them in Seattle.

I: The first show back though we same them open for the band Geese, who I hadn’t seen or really heard before. That was really cool.

Oh nice, they came to Chicago in January.

A: I’m trying to think what other shows we’ve actually seen since lockdown ended.

I: Oh I went to see this band called Foyer Red open for Why Bonnie? And I was a little bit familiar with both bands, but seeing them both live was really fun and it was a great show.

A: Our friend, who plays bass with us now, Alex MacKay, his band Cutouts, we went to go see. They opened for us in October and they’re really amazing. Very cool stuff.

Very cool. Well then life on the road in general, I know Ian was sick for a couple days recently? How has it been besides that?

I: Yeah thankfully not covid.

A: Yeah he always gets a cold that turns into a sinus infection.

I: But I’m feeling better now.

A: Got those steroids in you!

I: And antibiotics.

A: But otherwise, this tour has been really really nice.

I: It has been very nice!

A: Every city we’ve gone to has been so warmly receptive of the music and we’ve played some cool venues that we’ve never played before. I just love doing the drives. Also we have Alex’s brother on tour doing some documentarian work for us. Having just another hand on deck has made things very smooth for us this tour.

I: Yeah, driving and loading in and out

A: And just having fun and laughing!

Anywhere else on the tour that you’re excited to get to?

A: Well we’re going to Toronto and Montreal, and Alex and his brother are Canadian so they’re gonna have some friends and family out and they’ll be able to show us around. So I’m looking forward to that.

I: Also the band we’re playing with, Ducks Ltd., they’re Canadian as well.

Yeah I haven’t seen them yet but I’m excited to check them out.

I: They’re really great.

A: And they’re super nice too!

I: I also heard that Columbus may sell out.

A: I love when random places are good places for us.

I: You sort of walk into a  lot of cities having no idea if anyone knows who you are, so it’s always nice when you’re like ‘wow, Phoenix, Arizona!’ That was one of the best shows we ever played and it was a pretty tight club venue. But so much amazing energy. That’s been the coolest part of tour in general. Learning about our fans in a very immediate way, cause with the pandemic we’ve been so detached from everyone. It’s so nice to just actually see everyone.

Yeah that human connection can be very rewarding. Well the last thing I wanted to ask about was the song, it’s a few years old at this point, but “I’ve Thought About Chicago,” since we’re in Chicago can you talk about the backstory there?

I: It was just a bunch of our friends lived here and that line was just written in my notebook. I think we were having some conversations about places we would consider living and I just said that. Then I thought there’s some sort of ring to that….and the song just built itself off of that one line.

A: I’m from Kansas City, it’s not that much closer than New York is to Chicago—

But it’s like that midwest mentality.

A: Yeah exactly so I have some friends from there living here. When we did our first tour it was just like 3 shows in Chicago.

I: It was like two venues and a garage.

I miss house shows! I’m like I don’t know if they’re not going on cause of Covid or because I’m old now…

I: Yeah exactly. Everyone’s like I’m not gonna let that many people into my house!

Well wrapping up, anything else you’re excited about that you want to share?

A: Nothing on the exact docket but I think we have some songs we’re releasing over the summer.

I: And just more touring. This tour runs straight into a European tour. We have like 3 days off and then we fly to Ireland and spend 3 weeks over there.

A: I feel like 2022 is the year of the tour for us.


Keep up with Nation of Language’s upcoming tour dates here, take a listen to A Way Forward below, and revisit our photo recap of their Thalia Hall show here.

A Chat With: Axel Flóvent

Axel Flóvent was one of my favorite sets and best discoveries of the annual Iceland Airwaves Festival in 2019. The Icelandic singer-songwriter instantly won me over with his mesmerizing melodies and his knack for painting a picture through his lyrics on his songs like “Forest Fires” and “Your Ghost.” Recently, Flóvent embarked on his first proper U.S tour in support of Radical Face, and he took some time to chat before his set at Thalia Hall in Chicago. Tune in below for more on Flóvent’s take on the Icelandic music scene, how he overcomes creative challenges, and the themes of his upcoming debut album.


What do you remember as your first musical memory? 

I feel for me it was a few moments of evolution, how my love evolved for music. The first memory was probably learning to play power chords. My uncle taught me to play power chords and I learned two AC/DC songs and I felt some kind of freedom from learning them because then I could try to write on my own. Cause it’s so easy the way he taught me. The way he taught me was that you could write on your own and do it anywhere, and it works.

So this tour is your first time in North America, right?

Yeah it’s the first time touring properly here.

What have been some highlights from the first leg of the tour, or something you’re looking forward to?

I’ve always wanted to play in New York! I was supposed to do a little east coast tour back in 2016 cause I did SXSW. I didn’t get my visa in time so we had to cancel the shows then, and since then I’ve been wanting to play in New York and do these east coast dates we had to cancel. That was the thing I was mostly excited about, making up the gigs I was supposed to do. Seattle was amazing also. The most amazing memories I had so far were playing in Seattle because they had a lot of connection to Iceland. A lot of them had gone to Iceland for Iceland Airwaves last year. It’s a really cool festival and it’s so nice getting people who are already connected to the music. I don’t know what to expect at all supporting for Radical Face and getting new crowds but in each city there’s always a few people coming from knowing Iceland Airwaves and Icelandic music. 

I actually went to Iceland for the first time last year and saw you at Iceland Airwaves myself. I loved the city and the festival, so as someone who lives there, what are a few spots you’d recommend for catching new music or just any sort of hidden gems for music fans who are maybe attending the fest for the first time?

I feel Iceland is so unpredictable when it comes to music. For me there’s no venue that always has something going on. What’s big in Iceland is like release concerts and people get so hyped up for it, and people get so hyped for these up and coming artists. I haven’t been connected to the Icelandic music scene for such a long time, so it’d be hard for me to recommend something. But definitely Iceland Airwaves is probably the best time to go to Iceland because every artist in Iceland tries to go on that festival and play. That’s the biggest thing for me. I haven’t played in Iceland since Airwaves.

So before you settled back in Iceland, you moved to Amsterdam when you were younger. Do you think that nomadic lifestyle has impacted your songwriting?

Definitely. I think I moved to Netherlands because I was signed to a label there. I moved there to be closer to them to be able to work with them. It didn’t work the way that I thought it would. I moved there and ended up being alone in my apartment writing a lot and just kind of reflecting on my dream of going into the city. I wrote “City Dreams” out of this idea of trying to make myself believe that I’m the place I wanted to be in and I made it. I’d gotten out of Iceland only to discover that being there two years out of Iceland, looking at Iceland like “I really need to move back.” Because everything I want to be close to is there actually and not out there. I really don’t have anyone or any roots [In Amsterdam]. So in darker times it’s hards to go by without any roots or anything really. That’s kind of like my album that I’m releasing in the end of the year. I wrote about this experience and this journey. 

Do you think you’re more creative in Iceland, or do you think that struggle drove you to write these songs? Do the dark times tend to turn into art?

Yeah I feel like as a songwriter you crave for things to write about that have a stronger meaning in a way. I think a problem a lot of songwriters have, especially when they go professional, they kind of start to not have anything that they have to do other than music. Now they’re at this place where they’re more comfortable and don’t need to go to a 9-5 job. When you’re at this comfortable state of mind….I feel like that was the biggest drive I had. When I was a teenager and I had to work jobs I didn’t like. I was so motivated to get out of it, that I got out of it quickly, but now I feel so privileged so it’s really hard to get in touch with your struggles. 

Like I can’t be too happy, I need to write songs!

That’s really the feeling! And I feel like a lot of artists have this problem because there’s so many more DIY, doing it ourselves and we’re working to get an income. Then when we get closer to do it professionally, it’s like what do we really write about? A lot of songwriters in my position just have a repetitive feeling of writing love songs but not really meaning anything.

That’s really interesting! It’s almost like a catch 22, like you want to be successful enough but not too comfortable.

You want to be in touch with real life struggles because otherwise you can’t write things that are relatable. I feel like that’s the thing. You don’t want to be in a position where you’re like I need to struggle, but you kind of do that in some ways because of that. 

Speaking of new music, can you talk about the creative process behind “Driving Hours”?

I wrote it right before I moved to Amsterdam. So in my apartment in Reykjavík. I had just ended a past relationship and I was kind of looking back at that and kind of talking to myself. I was in my mind, it’s quite different sonically than a lot of stuff I’ve released, so in my mind I was creating a new project. I was like I’m going to call this project Driving Hours, and it’s going to be a side project. I had to do this in my mind to allow myself to go in this direction sonically because I’m always so stuck with this mindset of having an acoustic guitar or organic piano to be able to release stuff under my own name. So I needed to do that and it was just flowing in a more straight up pop feely kind of lyrics. So I was trying to break myself out of the usual box with this song, so I wrote this a few years ago. I recorded it with my past label and then we broke up because of this song. They weren’t happy with where I was taking it and where I wanted to take it, so we realized it wasn’t working out. I didn’t touch the song for a long time. Then I signed to Nettwerk earlier last year, they were like you have to put this song on the record. I wasn’t sure about it because I wanted to go back to my roots and I felt like Driving Hours wasn’t really speaking to me in the same way my new music was. I found a way to record it and get it sonically more in touch.

Yeah that’s really interesting you had to separate it as a new project. I did notice it had a different kind of swagger to it. So then as far as “Driving Hours,” it’s the first single off a new EP. How does it fit in with the rest of the four songs?

The EP has two songs that are not going to be on the record, but “Tourist” and “Driving Hours” are going to be on the record. These two songs, one of them is a song I wrote years ago in like 2013. I never knew where to place it, and wasn’t sure if I wanted to put it on the record, so I wanted to put it on the EP before the record. I really love the song [“Sea Creatures”] and I’m performing it on the tour, and it’s always fun to tell the story of how I wrote it. 

You’ve mentioned some of your influences are Bon Iver and Bombay Bicycle Club. What do you consider to be non-musical influences for you?

I’m always kind of touched by glimpses of….It’s so hard to talk about it specifically because I can be watching an interview with another artist or just a movie. I watched Little Women in cinemas the other day and I got filled up with inspiration of writing cinematic music just by watching that. I think it’s just moments. It’s so connected to the moment as well so I feel it’s so hard for me to be like “Oh I love this artist and this artist.” The older I get the more and more I feel disconnected to specific things and I’m more inspired by moments here and there. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not, but I love painting and drawing myself and just throwing stuff on paper. It’s everywhere kind of. 

So looking ahead with 2020, you have the album coming out. How would you briefly tease the album to get people excited about it?

It’s definitely inspired by isolation and feeling isolated from the rest of the world. Also just this feeling of loneliness and isolation is the theme of the record. Not only in a negative way. Also in a pure way, like love yourself. 

Anything else this year that you’re looking forward to?

We’re currently building up a lot of things. We’re looking forward to post release of the album and the next few months will be planning up to the release. 


Photos from Axel Flóvent at Thalia Hall

Keep up with Axel on Twitter // Instagram // Facebook




A Chat With: Girl Ray

The North London based trio Girl Ray, featuring Poppy Hankin, Iris McConnell, and Sophie Moss, has caught the attention of many since forming in 2015. Just last year, the band released their debut album Earl Grey, which boasts bright guitar melodies, soothing harmonies, and thoughtful lyrics that are quick to win anyone over. This week, the group will be embarking on a nearly two month venture to North America to perform their record to a new audience. In addition to making their SXSW debut, Girl Ray will support Porches on tour across the country, including a stop at Thalia Hall on February 21st. Before the tour rolls through Chicago, we had a quick Q&A with the band's bassist, Sophie Moss. Get to know the band a little bit better before they take over in 2018 by checking out our chat with Girl Ray now!

 Photo by Neil Thomson

 Photo by Neil Thomson

ANCHR Magazine: What do you remember as your first musical memory growing up, and what brought you all together to make music?

Girl Ray: Watching Lilo and Stitch when Lilo's sister comes in through the catflap and "Heartbreak Hotel" is playing. I wanted to be Lilo and she looked really zen and sassy. Combination of cartoon jealousy and Elvis' tones got me going and had to keep rewinding. I for one know that's why I'm in a band.

AM: Since your debut album Earl Grey came out in August last year, what have been some career highlights or favorite gigs you've play?

GR: We played a London venue called Scala which was really surreal. It's really big and people showing up and being enthusiastic felt like a massive prank.

AM: Speaking of gigs, you’ll be over in The States later this month touring with Porches. What cities are you most looking forward to visiting and playing in?

GR:  !!!!!!! For the shows: Chicago, Atlanta and NYC!  Really want to see the bat colony under Congress Avenue Bridge when we go to South By. Quite like bats but think it might be the wrong time of year. Big Sur! Joshua Tree! Griffith Observatory. Abe Lincoln's stony white head.

AM: What can we expect from your set on this tour, and are there any songs from your album that are your favorite to play live?

GR: Some smiles. My personal fave is "A Few Months." We like to change it up at the end and it's fun to play something a bit new every night. 

AM: Lastly, since your album is called Earl Grey, how would you describe your sound as a cup of tea metaphor?

GR: Smooth and good milk ratio for the most part. Not a tea you would tell your pen pal about, but maybe a tea you'd have again. Then a bit freaky at times - like finding a soft mouse inside, but it comes out the mug, touches your heart for a few seconds, and gets on with its day. Towards the end you're not seeing dregs. A nice surprise.


There you have it! Grab your tickets to see Girl Ray and Porches at Thalia Hall here, and get ready for the show by listening to Earl Grey in full below.

For Fans Of: The Big Moon, Tennis, Mitski