If you haven’t tempted yourself into giving a listen to the leaks of N*E*R*D’s new album Nothing yet, you’re either straight up lying or have an incredibly strong subconscious telling you to resist the urge to do so anyway. I’ll admit that will power isn’t exactly my middle name and have been giving the album a whirl for a few hours now. I won’t go into detail and give a complete reviewed judgement because first listens to whole albums by artists I idolize always take days, if not weeks, to sink in and be processed as my expectations are either too high or low and my initial thoughts are always made up of extreme measures. There are certain first impressions I’d love to share though. It’s easy to identify the favourites from the very start. For example, in this case it didn’t take me long to realize that God Bless Us All is a pure jam that could be kept on repeat all day with its fiery horns and steadily comfortable beat. Plus, the buzz about the content of this little song is juicy enough to keep me involved, allegedly Pharrell wrote this about  “a friend of ours in the business, a superstar who went through a crazy, rough patch and we wanted to offer him words of encouragement. He’s making good music and people are warming back up to him.” Kanye is the most legitimate claim I’ve heard till now and I’m going to blissfully ignore the Chris Brown claims as I don’t want my bbs to associate themselves with that boy. Either way, a memorably lovable track is the result so I can’t even care who it’s about. Sacred Temple is another standout that has basslines that could make A.R. Rahman dance in his seat, and Victory, the rejected World Cup song is a track I’d be willing to singalong to any day, so K’naan can leave the building now. My handpicked absolute stars of the album are the the funky Fly Or Die reminiscing Perfect Defect and the most affectionately tinted track I’ve heard in a while, I’ve Seen The Light. I’ll refrain from making a pun about seeing the light thanks to that song, but let’s just say it warms my heart on a cold day. The latter track comes paried with a dreamy interlude called Inside of Clouds, of which the Star Trak guru over at TheNeptunes.org has made an extended version– many thanks! I can only conclude that you need to download that splendid extended interlude and buy the album when it comes out November first, because even when N*E*R*D or not on top of their game, they still reign supreme over the game. And why yes, I did get through all that without giving a mention to that Daft Punk song. Oops…

[wpaudio url=”https://truantsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/05-n.e.r.d.-perfect_defect1.mp3″ text=”N*E*R*D – Perfect Defect” dl=”0″] (stream)

[wpaudio url=”https://truantsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/06-n.e.r.d.-ive_seen_the_light_-_inside_of_clouds1.mp3″ text=”N*E*R*D – I’ve Seen The Light / Inside Of Clouds” dl=”0″] (stream)

N*E*R*D – Inside Of Clouds (Extended) (320 kbps) (x)