Daily Dose: Nation of Language, “Reality”

Daily Dose is your daily source for the song you absolutely, positively need to hear every day. Curated by the Paste Music Team.

Brooklyn new-wave band Nation of Language have released another new single, “Reality.”

Paste recently featured the band on our list of 15 young NYC bands you need to know in 2018 for their ‘80s new-wave sound, with a dash of modern synth-pop and danceable post-punk.

Their new single is a punchy electro-pop tune with Ian Devaney lamenting the monotony of life (“He’s sick of waiting for the sound of something more / That’s the only certainty”) and the surreal nature of reality (“Reality is nothing to me / Where I won’t be as hopeless as I seem / Some kind of waking dream”).

Led by singer-songwriter Devaney, Nation of Language evoke a sorely missed, hi-fi, new-wave sound, but before you get overly excited and drag out all your old Human League and New Order LPs, it would be a bit unfair to deem Nation of Language a revivalist project. After releasing a self-titled EP and several singles, Devaney has cultivated a diverse, unique synth-pop sound and surprisingly, he cites modern influences like Beirut and The National, rather than LCD Soundsystem or Empire of the Sun.

At the beginning of the year, the band released a peppy new single, “On Division St,” with earworm synths and lyrics of poignant, romantic and nostalgic yearning (“The loving creak / Of floorboards by the door / Hopeful I waited, hopeful I called / But no one would answer at all / On division street”). They recently supported The Wombats in the U.S. and even managed to recruit The Strokes’ Fab Moretti for another single, the bouncing “Indignities.”

The band will embark on a Italian tour this summer, with a handful of U.S. dates as well, including stops in Philadelphia and a few shows in their Brooklyn hometown.

Listen to “Reality” and check out their upcoming tour dates below.

Nation of Language Tour Dates:

May
19 – Philadelphia, Pa. @ PhilaMOCA
26 – Otis, Mass. @ Welcome Campers

June
02 – Brooklyn, N.Y. @ Elsewhere
05 – Milan, Italy @ Ape Nel Parco
07 – Parma, Italy @ Fattoria del Vigheffio
08 – Rome, Italy @ Le Mura
09 – L’Aquila, Italy @ Garbage Live Club
17 – Brooklyn, N.Y. @ Alphaville

August
11 – North Haven, Maine @ Lungfest