NATE LESLIE is the frontman of Chicago-based psychadelic rock band PARADIGM. This is his third solo release and it’s a little difficult to categorise. Unsurprisingly, there’s a definite psychadelic vibe running through this solo effort but it’s fused with a host of other influences – lo-fi, folk and electronica.
The most obvious thing about this album is that it’s a labour of love. Nate plays all the instruments, recorded, produced and released it all entirely himself and credit should be given for that. Furthermore, the music itself really is steeped in sincerity. It’s far removed from any current trends and it’s refreshing to find music made for the right reasons.
However, while Nate should be commended for creating his own unique brand of hippy-hardcore, the jury is out as to whether it really works. There’s acoustic bits, post-rock layers of sound and electro blips and bleeps aplenty but some of the lyrics are a little bit questionable (“my hopes are high, but then so am I”) and as good a singer as Nate is – he has a very raspy, powerful “rock” voice – think Kroeger or Bono – so it comes across a little bit like U2 doing covers of THE POSTAL SERVICE in places. A commendable effort with hit and miss results.
MICHAEL WILSON