#nimblebastard

[myincubusupdate]

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#Repost from @incubusofficial ••• Austria we are sound checked can’t wait to see you! #brandonboyd #michaeleinziger #josepasillas #djkilmore #benkenney #incubus #incubus8 #8tour #soundcheck #nimblebastard (en Vienna, Austria) https://www.instagram.com/p/BnEm6-YjNVz/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=dvq82faptbaj

[xthem4me]

So Bright

Album Review #14: Incubus - 8

“Where do we go from here,” lead singer Brandon Boyd asks on “Throw Out The Map,” the last track on Incubus’ 8th studio album.  Incubus is an American band that formed in 1991, and hails from California.  They achieved mainstream success with “Drive,” a track from their 1999 breakthrough release Make Yourself.  Throughout their career the band has stayed fresh, releasing solid efforts that always see the quintet following their intuition.  On 8 nothing is different.  

So, “where do we go from here,” Boyd asks.  The answer could very well lie in the song’s title, and in turn, act as a statement for the album.  The groundwork is ‘fun’ here, with a capital F, even if the opening track is called “No Fun.”  The album as a whole is a hot mess.  This is its strength.  The only consistent thing we get is stellar (no pun intended) musicianship.  The band sounds reinvigorated (compared to their previous, somber release If Not Now When, which I loved very much), and Boyd announces it on the anthemic bridge of “Undefeated.”  “I’m not dead yet.  I’m bent, but not broken.”

The apical example of this vigor and jest is illustrated on the 56 second track “When I Became A Man,” which finds the band goofing about juicy girls teaching boys how to shower, set to what sounds like vintage Hawaiian music. The fact that it comes right after the co-produced Skrillex track “Loneliest,” which is bolstered by drum machines, harmonizer processed vocals, and a keyboard line not out of place in a 90s West Coast hip-hop song, represents a band that’s thrown out the rule book, if one even exists in art.  With industry rearing its ugly head, it’s commendable  that Incubus stay true to their vision. Though this deep in the game, the band should be afforded some deference, and in turn, thruway.

“How do you spill the paint, and then fit it into a frame,” Boyd sings on lead single “Nimble Bastard.”  It’s an accurate averment about the album.  It also points to how honest the band is about cohering the lunacy on these tracks. They never over indulge.  

“State of the Art” swims in acoustic guitars, and pulses with a steady beat that assists Boyd’s vocal intonations.  The band manages here, to capture the bittersweet warp that emerges when music magically explains the lyrics and visa versa.  “Your blissful ignorance is everything they like.”  It’s an unspoken, beautiful thing.

On “Familiar Faces” epic textures similar to the ones explored on their  2015 Trust Fall (Side A) EP emerge.  DJ/Keyboardist Chris Kilmore creates sonic landscapes that resemble what aliens adorning the furthest reaches of space with a son et lumière might attempt.

“Love In A Time of Surveillance,” is hit or miss, but Jose Pasillas II starts the track with solid galloping, and displays the versatility his fans have come to admire.  Bassist Ben Kenney also turns in some solid fuzz on the chorus.  

Whether it’s the metallic ping pong crunch of “Nimble Bastard,” or the saxophone sounding leads on instrumental “Make No Sound In The Digital Forest,” guitarist Mike Einziger once again sets the foundation for the songs, widening textures, cambering, and oscillating, but never overplaying.  In fact, no one overplays.  The clean and centering production mellows, pops, and accelerates in all the right places, showcasing how well these guys compliment one another, and how each helps the other illumine.  This occurs particularly well on the closing track, with its drum and guitar syncopations, prowling bass lines, clanking pianos, and Boyd’s echo yelps.  

Boyd’s voice is as versatile and luminous as it was in 2001.  The melodies and line break choices feel familiar yet daring, and new, particularly on the first verse of “Glitterbomb.”  His glottal fry on the track is immensely rewarding as well, like popping bubble wrap.  

In numerology the number 8 implies balance and power, beginnings and success, and I think that’s what we get from Incubus here: a band comfortable with each other, their career, and their output.  Or maybe it’s just “Chaka Khan motherfuckers,” as Boyd declares at the end of the album.  Either way, 8 is worth the price of admission.  Incubus.  Thank you. 

SMOOCH-O-METER:

[incubased]

Has it... come... to this????

[brandonboydthebest]

#NimbleBastard

[chancexavier]

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Cover Me Up. #covermeup #light #hopeissleeping #bigred #nimblebastards #acoustic #guitar #music #musician #country #america (at Ratliff, Florida) https://www.instagram.com/p/B03gd_UBUmT/?igshid=apf17cnkcui

[robtuazon]

On repeat. #incubus #nimblebastard

[soshell311]

😍😍 @incubusofficial #nimblebastard #happythursday #sogood #incubus #icingonareallygreatmorning #thingsaregood @radio1045 #radio1045 #worldpremiere

[ploningning]

wag nyo ako awayin pls #dilawan #hujicambalbon #nimblebastard https://www.instagram.com/p/BmmrJznD3CG/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=179ugj5cyvl5x

[lovelyangiechu]

Finally got my new tattoo. It's my favourite lyrics from my favourite song from my favourite band!! (@incubusofficial's "Wish You Were Here"). So happy to finally have it done, and it's fitting that my appointment was scheduled for the day their new album was released! That part was totally coincidental, I promise :P #selfie #newtattoo #incubus #incubusband #incubusofficial #incubustattoo #tattoo #girlswithtattoos #wishyouwerehere #andinthismomentiamhappy #iloveincubus #incubus8 #nimblebastard #allsmiles #blackgirlmagic #wingedliner #checkoutthatbicep #fitness #fitfam

[redcumulonimbus]

[myincubusupdate]

#Repost from @incubusofficial ••• #NimbleBastard fight mode on #brandonboyd #michaeleinziger #benkenney #josepasillas #djkilmore #incubus #incubus8 #8tour

[passivereflex]

This July, I will enjoy Incubus... in the pit... *squeals like a giddy child* #achievementunlocked #enjoyincubus #nimblebastard

[incubased]

Incubus @ ACLU Nimble Bastard live

[thehipsterzombiejointexperience]

#Repost @incubusofficial ・・・ #NimbleBastard premiers on @kroq tomorrow with @kevinandbean

[brandonboydthebest]

@incubusband's #nimblebastard music video shoot

[itosky]

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นิมเบิลไม่นุ่มนิ่ม🎶~Nimble Bastard Incubus live in Bangkok 15 February 2018 . #incubus #nimblebastard #incubusliveinbangkok #incubus8 #rock #rockmusic #liveinbangkok #incubuslive (at BCC Hall @Central Plaza Ladprao)