Album Review: Shape the Future by Nightmares on Wax

With Shape The Future, Nightmares On Wax lynchpin George Evelyn has decided to grow up. The Warp stalwart, whose whole career has been with the label, has described how making his eighth album posed a lot of challenges due to its collaborative nature, and greater maturity was the quality he ultimately craved to get it finished. It is certainly his most adult record to date, complementing an output already crammed with staples that no self respecting chillout or hip hop DJ should be without.

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When thinking of veteran artists on Warp Records, you probably recall IDM legends like Autechre, Plaid or Aphex Twin, but the smoked-out beats of Nightmares on Wax have been there since the very beginning, in 1989. Back then, it was all sample-heavy stoner jams, while now — well, you're still reaching for the bong, but the whole affair sounds a lot more like a full band than a man and his MPC. This isn't much of a surprise, though, as NoW have been progressively sounding more live and polished for a few years now.

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Shape the Future begins on a profound note: opener “Back to Nature” wrestles with the notion of universal connectivity. The track features the spoken word of Kuauhtli Vasquez, a member of the Wixarika Tribe, who encourages the listener to consider that “all humans share one consciousness, but yet they wanna be separated… they don’t realise all humans share a pool of consciousness.” In its composition, the track has a quintessentially, soulful Nightmares On Wax feel, with the introduction of the Wixarika tribe, indigenous to the Sierra Madre Occidental, who sing in the native language of Huichol, the track becomes truly captivating, leaving us with an uplifting call for unity for the benefit Mother Earth..

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