Southeast Engine’s lineup expanded, contracted, and turned over several times through the years, but the classic lineup was the six-man, three-guitar version of the band. One of those guitarists was a prodigious undergrad by the name of Adam Torres who played sideman in Southeast Engine but got his start on Athens stages playing solo singer-songwriter stuff. When he finally released a proper studio album in 2006, it was a stunner. But like so many would-be classics, Nostra Nova never made it out of obscurity.
The first memory that comes to my mind of Adam Torres playing “Breakneck Jane’s Fifteen Minute Escape” in Southeast Engine’s rehearsal space in Athens, Ohio basement. He had just returned from a summer in Switzerland, Adam brought back a fresh batch of songs that were unlike anything he had previously written. These were songs that required the hero’s journey to acquire.
Adam had written some beautiful songs before his trip, but these new songs contained a mystery that only the unconscious can direct. Nostra Nova begins with “Voices from the Top of the Mountain” and “The Butlers and the Maids.” Both songs read like apocalyptic literature from some lost prophet’s vision of redemptive doom. But if the album opens channeling the collective unconscious, it proceeds through Adam’s own personal unconscious — each song glows with unique imagery and sensory detail that only experience and memory can provide. “Dusty Wing Spirit” unites fluttering moths with a voyage through the inner passages of someone’s body, while “Fate is Kind” links fake horror movie blood with avian transformation
I must say a few words too about the music of the record. Nostra Nova is a testament to the talent of the Athens, Ohio musicians of the time. They gracefully arranged and complimented these songs in the production of the record. From the drums & percussion of “The Butlers and the Maids,” the Rhodes keyboard on “Dusty Wing Spirit,” and the awesome instrumental of “El Vuelo de la Paloma,” you can hear musicians working together to create a magical record. They bolster the songs and the sonic centerpieces — Adam’s voice and intricate guitar playing. Nostra Nova is a classic record. It’s a record that continues to speak to those who encountered it and continues to reveal further dimensions. It’s encouraging to know that it will now find a new audience.
The Fat Angel Sings 