Nini Music – Rise Up!
Nini Music has cultivated quite an audience in the underground scene recently, and for good reason; her musical talent is divine, and her devotion to her craft is incredibly admirable. Through a plethora of live streams on Reddit, her work has certainly paid off, as by the time this review goes up one could hardly deem her work “underground.” Unfortunately, her incredible talents have paired Nini with a diverse range of producers who don’t compliment her skills well, and if her debut EP is anything to go off by, these producers are riding her success.
The album opens with the impeccable, original Rise Up. Boating beautiful native Taiwanese instrumentation, the song masterfully weaves ethnic strings and flute instrumentation, before eccentrically climaxing into a cheesy, yet wholly satisfying finale. The sound design is thoroughly rich, as are the performances full of life. Unlike many EDM tracks, which incorporate eastern instrumentation as a coat of paint, Rise Up’s structure is built around the strengnths of these instruments. The following could not be said for the Sound of the Rebellion, however, as the cheesy metal is a huge limiting factor. The contrast of elusive strings to the generic metal pop is rather striking, and unnecessary, as if the producer insisted on inflicting his own work on Nini’s gorgeous pallatte. Thankfully, the eccentric dubstep outro adds much needed flair, though its EDM section is far too short to salvage.
The lush instrumentation returns on Walk Gracefully Once, accompanied by a rather sterile, yet creative beat. The use of space is incredibly admirable, as is the gorgeous production, but the song sadly completely steals the melody of I Was Made for Lovin’ You by Kiss, taking away the impact it otherwise would have had. Release has all the components that made the opener stand out, but they detract much too far from Nini’s graceful compositions and beautiful arrangement of instrumentation. Whoever produced the album was more concerned with his/her electronic work than the instrumentation provided. The result is, ashamably, rather generic. Lastly, while Can’t Help Falling in Love returns to the metal pop formula, it boasts a surprising amount of energy; though it’s much too short.
The original moments on Rise Up, specifically those composed by Nini herself, are incredible. What’s apparent is the large number of producers behind the scenes that are riding the talents of Nini to push forward their own work, and not showcasing the strengths of the artist herself. Imagine if Pitbiull produced Milk-Eyed Mender by Joanna Newsom. One can only hope Nini will compose more of her own compositions in future – the title track Rise Up is extraordinary, and one of the best songs of the year. The more Nini puts the Eastern instrumentation forward, the more she soars. Here’s hoping the producers will take a step back next time in the studio booth.
Above Average
Listen to it here:
https://ninimusic.bandcamp.com/album/rise-up
