NYC Scene Report – Nation of Language, R O N I, & Zoë Moss

This week’s NYC Scene Report features Nation of Language spending some time “On Division St.,” R O N I moving in “Stop Motion,” and Zoë Moss taking on “The Jackal.”

* With a classic synth-pop sound, Brooklyn-based band Nation of Language is ready meet up “On Division St.”

“On Division St.” is a song off the band’s debut album, Introduction, Presence, which received a limited-edition translucent sand vinyl release exclusively through Rough Trade this past Friday.

Discussing the video for “On Division St.,” Nation of Language songwriter and vocalist Ian Devaney said in a statement, “I’ve been looking forward to releasing a video for ‘On Division St.’ for a long time. We were excited to team up with our friend James Thomson, who was able to shine a new kind of light on the song. I have this idea in my head that our music generally feels out of place against the backdrop of summer, but the dynamic of the city in its current condition really captured the solitude and confusion behind the song in a way that feels compelling.”

Devaney continued, adding, “Thomson shot the video on 16mm film, which has a way of making you perceive the recent past as the distant past – a feeling I’ve been experiencing a lot these past several months as time seems to warp in strange new ways.”

Click play, and meet Nation of Language “On Division St.”


* If you love great alt-pop (and seriously, who doesn’t?), you’re really going to enjoy the latest single from NYC, by way of Jerusalem, artist R O N I. The song is titled “Stop Motion,” and it has the feel of an old school Halsey song, but with bigger vocals.

Off R O N I’s upcoming album, Crown, which is due out September 9th via InchPerSecond Records, the story behind “Stop Motion” is that it was fully improvised while R O N I was visiting Jerusalem and had a freestyle session with producer FortyForty.

The result is fantastic, so stop what you’re doing and check out R O N I’s “Stop Motion.”

* Brooklyn-based songstress Zoë Moss is ready to take on “The Jackal.” The third single from her upcoming EP, Stories, “The Jackal” is a pop song with tinges of classic Lights (and if you know how I feel about Lights, you know that’s one heck of a compliment).

Explaining the inspiration for “The Jackal” in a statement, Moss said, “This song is about a relationship that ended without any closure. It’s one of the most intimate songs on Stories. After many sleepless nights going over what I could have said, and done, differently with this person, I woke up one day and decided to write everything I wish I had said to them into one song. ‘The Jackal’ essentially became a therapeutic ode to that connection.”

Who knew therapy could sound this good?

For more of the best of NYC’s indie music scene, come back next Wednesday, and check out the archives for previous columns.