Milad Nazeri – ArtLESS (Album Review)

It’s been a while since we’ve been graced with a multidisciplinary body of work, here at Music Review World. A lot of songs and releases have a proficient aim and method of execution, but only a select few get to have the exclusive title of a multidisciplinarian. I elaborated further about this particular title in my previous review of Milad Nazeri’s work here, and now he’s back with his new release, titled ‘ArtLESS’.

Known to Music Review World as a highly proficient artist combining various subgenres of EDM and house to produce a result that is potent, engaging and mind-blowing, this current release serves as a compilation of unfinished and unreleased tracks from different phases of his 30-year career in music. This release will include more subgenres roped together to form a cohesive body of art, such as genres like drum and bass, EDM, R&B as well as pop. The songs on this album were little snippets of ideas that were never fully completed or released until now.

ARTLess is described as more than just a ‘compilation’, however. It’s a project that bears Milad Nazeri’s personal touches to it, from start to the end. It reflects the changes he has experienced throughout his career. With significant shifts happening in his personal life, this album is also the last release he will make for a long time. As a symbolic end to a chapter, it quantifies his thoughts, ideas and explorations of his previous phase before things get more uncertain towards the future.

The album also offers a glimpse into the wacky and spontaneous undertones of the creative process, and the journey of making music across many years. This is evident in some of the period-specific influences throughout the album, from 90s R&B to early 2010s EDM. The tracks also represent moments of inspiration, growth and experimentation that were the ‘odd ones out’- never truly fitting into the theme of earlier projects.

Let’s embark on a free, spontaneous, and expectation-less journey… into the world of Milad Nazeri.

The album truly begins with a spectacular number, not being short of energy and intent. ‘Gotta Go’ starts off strong, bringing on the motif of an electronic-heavy soundscape from his previous release, with the new addition of vocals. It gives off a very fresh take on a specific, dynamic subgenre of 90s House, mixed with a bit of Balearic House influences in the swing and the way the bass interacts with the beat itself. In a way, the heavy swing also gives it an unexpected 1920s feel. The vibrance and soul of the vocalist’s voice helps to elevate the effortless suave of the track, as it goes through motions of spatial direction within the panning and mastering methods throughout the track. Honestly, one thing I love about the artist’s music style is how you can ‘pick out’ various genres unfolding at almost every half-measure of the track. The syncopation even mimics Romanian house in some instances of the track. Extremely dynamic, glossy and engaging.

The second track, ‘Lost’, bears a different soundscape. It seems to mix elements of rock, rock-pop and electronic music as well, which I find quite interesting. The way it mixes all of these genres is actually quite subtle, without any clashes inbetween the transitions. This track gives off a more dated sound, reminding of pop ballads from the early 2010s and how they used to mix a four to floor beat with a more pop-esque song structure. Unsurprisingly, the choice of vocals for this track also match the slightly sombre, ‘release of energy’ feel within the song. It has tones of vulnerability, all while providing a bit of an emotional oomph from the EDM techniques. Even though it does sound a little dated initially, the breakdown in the middle of the song gives it a breath of fresh air. It bears a breakbeat, followed by a buildup to a beat drop. I think that’s extremely novel and interesting, and could actually start a movement in terms of new production techniques.

The third track, ‘Come Back’, follows a similar theme to the previous track, expanding upon more sombre and serious themes and methods of execution within the soundscape. It also has the same compositional structure, mixing a pop ballad with slight trap elements and a heavy electronic influence. It has a slight melodic trance note to it, reminding me of tracks from 2007 – 2012. The vocals are very smartly manipulated, giving a layered and autotuned feel. This actually helps to give the track a lot of dimension, after being deceivingly predictable. Once again, the artist shines in the ‘break’ or the bridge of the songs, infusing a fury of genre-bending electronica.

The fourth track, ‘Things Will Never Change’, ironically changes up the flow of the album up til this point. It has a very late 2010 – 2014 electro-R&B fusion to its sound. It almost puts me in the mind of ‘Whatcha Say’ by Jason Derulo, especially with its production and in the chords and percussion. I think this song has a lot of potential as a ‘newer song’ that revives this style of music, but something in the vocals truly throws me off. I’m not sure if its just merely the production, but it lacks a certain authenticity to it. I admit that it’s probably a bias on my end, as it does sound like the output typically produced by artificial intelligence trying to emulate vocals from that time period. Hey, one day the signs of ‘human authenticity’ would also be replicated by AI, don’t you think? I appreciate the slight change in transposition and chord structure within the bridge of the song, as it helps to inject a sense of excitability within the song. If you miss the style of music associated with people like Jordin Sparks, this is definitely the track for you.

The fifth track, ‘Hold your Hand’, delves into a soundscape more in tune with the electro-funk revival associated with acts like Bruno Mars and even modern-day K-Pop bands. It has all the elements of the typical Motown funk sound, mixed with a technological boost and some furnishings of trap music production from the mid 2010s. It has a very ‘crowd-esque’ feel in the vocals and the layering, as if the lyrics were meant to be sung in the midst of a crowd. I’d say that this track is definitely one of the more ‘epic’ tracks on the album, with extremely crisp production and a delectably proficient improvision in the bridge. The production on the vocals reminds me of what Zapp and Roger could’ve been if they came out on the scene today. It has a very, very immersive soundscape. This song will envelope you and your whole consciousness as you listen to it, blocking everything out. I find that quality quite fascinating.

The sixth track, ‘Livin a Dream’ amplifies the previous theme of electro-funk even more, with a definite 80s funk-pop influence. If I mentioned Zapp and Roger before, this song is even more of that- it’s like as if Computer Love had a hardware upgrade. It is very metallic in its feel, and dynamic as well. If this song has a colour, it would be gold and silver with accents of purple. The way the chords and the melodies hug each other in this track is truly solid, complete with the vaporwave feel of the beat itself. I think this track is almost genius in its execution. I typically abhor tracks from today that have an 80s influence, as I think it’s overdone and it never really sounds ‘new’ or futuristic enough. However, this track is a very rare exception.

The seventh track, ‘Falling to Pieces’ is an emotional piece that takes you through a more sombre, yet determined sequence. It feels like a mixture of modern indie rock and a bit of OneRepublic, mixed with the vocal tone of a person influenced by Tears for Fears. I get the intent of this track, but personally, it’s a bit too commercial and predictable for me. I wholly acknowledge that this is my subjective preference, and I think this track has the capability to resonate with A LOT more people given the emotional depth and intensity within this track. It has slight elements of dubstep and trip hop, giving the track an edgier feel instead of merely being a sad story.

The eighth track, ‘Made for You’ unfortunately sounds like the most generic song on the album thus far. I can’t help but think of songs produced by Stargate specifically from 2010 to 2012 within this song. It’s not a bad song at all, the production is wonderful, and the composition is adequate, but it just does not stick out to me at all, given the high proficiency of all of the other songs on the album. The bridge within this song does save the song a little bit, but unless you’re a huge fan or have a personal bias towards songs like this, it won’t wow you.

The ninth track, ‘Dance Like’, starts off with a very ‘crowd-intensive’ intro, as if it were meant to build up a crowd and hype them up. Honestly, it’s very potent and energetic, and I think even if you don’t have a personal bias towards songs like this, you’d definitely understand and feel the intent of the track. It still mixes elements from neo-funk with Nazeri’s signature style, mixed with elements of dubstep as well. This is also another immersive track that I can picture a vivid dance number too. It is also very innovative, in terms of the bridge- it has very minor aspects of acid as well.

The tenth track, ‘Tonight’, dives deeper into heavier dubstep-electropop soundscapes. I can’t help but also think that this particular track bears a strong similarity to 3OH!3’s work, in particular, songs like ‘STARSTRUKK’. It also reminds me of Pitbull’s rebrand into more dance-pop and electronic heavy party songs from the early 2010s. It does have aspects of breakbeat, but I feel like this song would fare better without being pigeonholed into a particularly ‘2010s’ party song by eliminating the vocals. The tone of the vocals and the type of voices sprinkled throughout the album definitely gives a limitation to the impression of some of the tracks.

The eleventh track, ‘My Gift’, mellows things off from the previous track by going more into a softer, delicate and emotionally potent number. It still has flairs of electronica sprinkled throughout each measure of the backing track, but the lyrical tone and the chord structure definitely makes it more sentimental, which I’m sure is done on purpose to have thematic consistency within this track. One of the stars to me in this track is actually the bass. It’s not necessarily the main star of the track, but it ties it all together- being the middle ground between the electronic motifs and the slightly more acoustic influences. The little motifs sprinkled throughout the track are also significant from the perspective of sound design, as it helps to give the song some metaphorical sparkles.

Finally, the album closes with the track ‘Epilogue’, an intense and powerful track to end the album with. It definitely bears a drum ‘n’ bass background, but it has dimensions by adding influences like tribal house and breakbeat to it as well. The rogue vocals in the track also remind me of the frenzy behind the track ‘Smack my B—- Up’ by The Prodigy. In a weird way, this track feels like a complete zeitgeist. It’s chaotic, but not sporadic, it has a direction. It fits the uncertainty and the level of intensity behind things these days. I think this song definitely has universal appeal, with its fast pace and dynamic motion. It almost reminds me of a more cyberpunk version of the premise of Crazy Frog’s Axel F video. The bass is also extremely significant in this track, softening the punches of the percussion without dulling its essence at all. The track is also very well-mastered.

Even though some of the tracks on the album do sound dated, the production and intent behind all of these tracks definitely make it where all of the songs still stick out and have their own merit to them. Milad Nazeri once again displays his proficiency to make commercially appealing music without sacrificing experimentation and musical variability, with stellar mastering and very interesting musical choices. He’s definitely an artist that keeps you on your toes, and this quality is quite apparent throughout the course of this album. In a way, if this is his last release for a while, it makes me quite sad. We need more people like this to take risks and push the edge of music without sacrificing any level of proficiency. The songs play out vividly, with all of them having ‘mini-movies’ play out while you listen to them. Extremely immersive, as if the songs were meant to be used in tandem with virtual reality.

Score/Excellent: Milad Nazeri returns with a wonderfully immersive and artistically diverse album, called ‘ArtLESS’. You will definitely go through many journeys within this release, as it entirely encapsulates you into each and every subtheme within each song. It’s wonderfully mastered, fresh and filled with more musical goodies as each second goes by. A release that will definitely keep you on your toes and never bore you.

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