PREMIERE | Nima Kazerouni, self-titled
Don’t call it a comeback — the return of Nima Kazerouni of So Many Wizards; press photo courtesy of the artist.
Everyone and everything changes with time. Nothing is static nor remains crystalized and frozen as it ever was, like an evergreen artificial holiday tree or a lush suburban AstroTurf lawn. Like the azure allure of the patina that emerges on the alloys of bronze, brass, leathers, life, et al. — life is evolution, development and growth. Just in the same way a painter never creates the same exact landscape and/or portrait twice, sequential successions of the arts in hand with the trajectory shifts of the artists illustrate historical narratives that exhibit the benchmarks to landmarks along the way to remind one of the inherent progressions these paths. And although these allegorical roads are winding, they reveal clusters of kernels that sing to their own respective historical materialism. The scattered memories and moments that are all but forgotten are the remnants of nostalgia captured through recordings, artifacts and recollections that speak to the acts we act upon the world’s stage of the ongoing play that is the grand production of our own existence.
Expressing all of this and so much more is the righteous return of one of LA’s most influential artists, Nima Kazerouni, releasing his debut solo self-titled via Shrimper. Leader of the beloved So Many Wizards, Nima shares songs that revolve around leaning into fatherhood, ballads from the heart, songs from the lockdown and songs dedicated to new re-emergences and newfound affinities. Created in the confines of his own home studio (with an assist from Stereophonic Mastering’s Timothy Stollenwerk); the EP offers a more intimate side of the artist who has penned countless songs to dream on and fall in love in to/with. Nima rises from the chaos and worldwide wreckages of recent years with something that is composed with the deepest degrees of sincerities. Interpersonal relations are examined with raw honesty, reflections on the roads less and more often traveled, expressions of discovering a greater love and greater purposes in a cycle that curates the sentiment of a transcendent sanctuary with song.
“Never Enough” focuses on the fierce and fiery attachments that blend realities of awakened life in conjunction with the fantasias of the unconsciousness. Nima exhibits a vulnerability that mixes the extents of affection for a partnership that once was, marrying evocations of the ecstasy and the pain in a divulgence of a divorce that is anything but a clean and simple break from the core of the heart and spirit. The chapters of life and musings on the passages of time gently and gleefully run and skip with appreciation and intrigue on the fluttering rhythmic swings and sways of “Around Every Bend”. The moody brooding of “I Walk Down It” gives more jagged narratives in gruff deliveries that chronicle the places and spaces traveled and inhabited like a wise sage sharing campfire stories with a post-punk swagger.
Nima Kazerouni follows up the Berlin in 1977 art damaged feelings with an evocative lullaby on “Go To Sleep”, rocking serene vignettes of experience like a bedtime anthem built like a melancholy Pacific Coast frontier western with a flair that Spacemen 3 / Spiritualized’s Jason Pierce would most likely offer his blessing and approval. The understated majesty of the EP continues with Nima’s duet with Melody Carillo on “Have a Good Time” that evokes a kind of subdued hedonism in an ode to mutual appreciation and inspiration that is a reminder of the joy that is still possible in our beleaguered and exhausting world. The EP concludes on an empathetic note with “Don’t They Know The Way” that holds tight to passages of hope, passages of possibilities, passages of happiness, passages of care, passages toward a new day. Nima Kazerouni’s self-titled does not shy away from the complications and hardships of our realities (both personal and shared), but ultimately guides the listener towards a house of love. A house of friendship. A house to raise a family. A house that is dedicated to thinking about tomorrow while taking care of the pressing needs of today.
Nima provided generous reflections on life, raising a family, the new solo recordings and more:
The transition back into the bedroom recordings and writing was caused equally by two strong forces. The first was the pandemic but this occurred in conjunction with the new found duties of having a one year old as well as at the time, my seven year old daughter. Amidst family life and work at home protocols, I carved out segments to continue my passion of writing/recording but finding time and energy was a struggle. Sixteen months later and in the center of the pandemic in 2021, my baby boy Roman was born. Truly children are the ultimate gifts/creations of the universe but I knew then more than ever I had to be so much more dedicated and self-disciplined and to ultimately make the writing and recording process as streamlined as possible.
My garage turned ever so naturally into a fantastic DIY studio/rehearsal space. I went back to the early days of SMW and used my arsenal of instruments and synths to create the lush sounds that is this collection of songs that Shrimper Records is releasing. Very grateful to them. That being said, do not fear as Erik and I are still churning out SMW anthems. The wheels are in motion and we have one currently brewing in the studio that I am excited to share in the coming months. More on that later as well as a full length Nectarines album! For now, I do hope these songs connect with everyone that hears them.
Catch Nima Kazerouni tonight February 10 at The Bamboo Club alongside special guests Shannon Lay (Sub Pop) and Joel Jerome (Dangerbird).
The EP is available now via Shrimper.
