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… The stage presence of Nurses was astonishing. Picture the lead singer, Aaron Chapman, with a wide mullet and heavy glasses playing the guitar as if he is playing air guitar; picture the keyboardist, John Bowers, donning long hair and a Grizzly Adams beard ripping out much of the electronic sound and all of the bass work with his digits; and picture James Mitchell, in poised jazz style, pumping out illusorily simplistic drum beats whose brilliance hits you 20 minutes into the set with the strength of pungent Mexican water.  This had to be one of the top ten performances I’ve caught this year. The vocals were muted but remarkable in their range. The percussion work was particularly brilliant; it had a subdued jazz chill which synchronized nicely with the synthesised bass work. But it was the synthesizer work which was truly astonishing, in so far as it was minimally electronic and complimented the vocals nicely.As an album, Apple’s Acre is particularly brilliant. I’ve been digesting it for weeks, because the work here deserves no less.  The album starts strongly with “Technicolor,” a vocally driven piece echoing the falsetto vocal work of Grizzly Bear. The pressure builds nicely in this piece and is complemented by some sporadic synth work that culminates into a fantastically catchy melody which is carried mostly by the strong vocal work. This track truly demonstrates that the gift of Nurses is the ability to project the phenomenal vocal range of the singers and nicely layer the differing musical elements into an impressively structured piece.I would next recommend that you turn to “Man at Arms.” Listen for the utter brilliance of the drum-pedal work in this piece which punctuates the rhythm with cardiac intensity. The vocals here are muted and modest but filled with an astounding degree of emotional intensity. But the real kicker in the piece hits you in the final 45 seconds of the song; all of the instruments kick out and the melody is carried entirely by a ridiculous vocal a cappella that is suddenly punctuated by the cardiac pedal-drum work.I would then recommend turning to “Bright Ideas.” The track is laden with some motifs that are clearly influenced by Grizzly Bear and Panda Bear in terms of the vocal intensity of the former influence and the echoed vocals of the latter. The melodic hook of the piece is carried by the emotional vocals but the synthesizer sounds complement the vocal work nicely. This track would have to be my personal favourite of the album.As a last recommendation for this album, I would suggest you to turn to “Winter.” This track features some simple piano work that sounds remarkably like the sound of the Lovely Killbots. The emotional intensity and brilliance of the vocal work will hit you in the chest about half way through the piece—if it doesn’t, you need to consider whether you are in fact alive. Overall, for my money, Apple’s Acre is in the top 5 albums I’ve purchased this year and I recommend that you give it a listen. — Andres Hannah-Suarez

…

The stage presence of Nurses was astonishing. Picture the lead singer, Aaron Chapman, with a wide mullet and heavy glasses playing the guitar as if he is playing air guitar; picture the keyboardist, John Bowers, donning long hair and a Grizzly Adams beard ripping out much of the electronic sound and all of the bass work with his digits; and picture James Mitchell, in poised jazz style, pumping out illusorily simplistic drum beats whose brilliance hits you 20 minutes into the set with the strength of pungent Mexican water.  

This had to be one of the top ten performances I’ve caught this year. The vocals were muted but remarkable in their range. The percussion work was particularly brilliant; it had a subdued jazz chill which synchronized nicely with the synthesised bass work. But it was the synthesizer work which was truly astonishing, in so far as it was minimally electronic and complimented the vocals nicely.

As an album, Apple’s Acre is particularly brilliant. I’ve been digesting it for weeks, because the work here deserves no less.  

The album starts strongly with “Technicolor,” a vocally driven piece echoing the falsetto vocal work of Grizzly Bear. The pressure builds nicely in this piece and is complemented by some sporadic synth work that culminates into a fantastically catchy melody which is carried mostly by the strong vocal work. This track truly demonstrates that the gift of Nurses is the ability to project the phenomenal vocal range of the singers and nicely layer the differing musical elements into an impressively structured piece.

I would next recommend that you turn to “Man at Arms.” Listen for the utter brilliance of the drum-pedal work in this piece which punctuates the rhythm with cardiac intensity. The vocals here are muted and modest but filled with an astounding degree of emotional intensity. But the real kicker in the piece hits you in the final 45 seconds of the song; all of the instruments kick out and the melody is carried entirely by a ridiculous vocal a cappella that is suddenly punctuated by the cardiac pedal-drum work.

I would then recommend turning to “Bright Ideas.” The track is laden with some motifs that are clearly influenced by Grizzly Bear and Panda Bear in terms of the vocal intensity of the former influence and the echoed vocals of the latter. The melodic hook of the piece is carried by the emotional vocals but the synthesizer sounds complement the vocal work nicely. This track would have to be my personal favourite of the album.

As a last recommendation for this album, I would suggest you to turn to “Winter.” This track features some simple piano work that sounds remarkably like the sound of the Lovely Killbots. The emotional intensity and brilliance of the vocal work will hit you in the chest about half way through the piece—if it doesn’t, you need to consider whether you are in fact alive. 

Overall, for my money, Apple’s Acre is in the top 5 albums I’ve purchased this year and I recommend that you give it a listen.

— Andres Hannah-Suarez