Nation of Language – the Brooklyn-based trio made up of Ian Richard Devaney, Aidan Noell, and Alex MacKay – have signed to Sub Pop. Along with the news, they’ve shared a video for the luminous new single ‘Inept Apollo’. Discussing the new song and video, Devanaey said in a press release:
Work is a respite from pain. Whether it’s a paying job or just the thing you pour yourself into, having a direction to move in, finding a flow state, it can move focus away from the heaviness of the heart. So after life’s losses, in moments of despair, we resolve time and time again to dive headfirst into the work as best we can. But the artistic process also tends to be when imposter syndrome rears its ugly head – when I find my inner monologue spiraling: ‘this is the best coping mechanism I have at my disposal and I’m not even qualified to be doing it.’
Accompanying the song is a killer music video by our friend and brother John MacKay: it is an homage to creative pursuits, and in some ways came to represent the feeling of living in a city as an artist. The video feels like walking through an old warehouse in Brooklyn, full of practice spaces and studios, each room occupied by artists striving to express and understand themselves and their place in the world. No matter how bizarre the act may seem or how much self-doubt or pain runs through the mind of the creator, the beautiful thing is the striving and continuing on, rather than the final product or any notion of “success.” The power of creation belongs to all of us; requires the approval of none.
Nation of Language’s most recent album was 2023’s “Strange Disciple“.
The Fat Angel Sings 