Closer (Noisia)

One final album. One final stand, one last dance, before the light goes out and the Noisia project completes its 20-year dominance over the music industry.

After their farewell tour was messed with by the COVID pandemic, the Dutch trio decided that releasing a final album would perhaps be a more fitting sendoff - it would perhaps be a good way to say goodbye to their label, their artist friends, the scene they've helped model. So here we are. "Closer". The final album from arguably the most influential outfit in electronic music ever, arguably one of the most influential outfits in any scene this side of the 2000s. Between their other albums, from their debut "Split The Atom" - a bold call to revolution that went on to become a producer's Bible even to this day - to their sophomore studio LP "Outer Edges" - one of the most creative drum n bass projects to grace the scene, revered by all - and even to their Foreign Beggars collaboration that led to their legendary grime project "I Am Legion", Noisia have done nothing if not reshape the halls of music in its entirety, with their mixing techniques and hyper-detailed drums being used even in the neighbouring worlds of hip-hop and pop. It's no surprise then, when looking retrospectively at this mammoth catalogue of revolution, that "Closer" proves to be Noisia's weakest. But I suppose that's for the best, so as to not detract from their previous records. No, this record does not want to be a grand, melodramatic finisher, it doesn't want to break any more boundaries. Where their previous work was a rally car that thundered over mountaintops and kicked up the dust of sonic history, "Closer" is a drive into the endless horizon. This is essentially a megacollab LP with all their friends and mentees from their label VISION, but it's still got that sound design flair from "Split The Atom", and those mature atmospheres from "Outer Edges". There are less standout tracks, sure, there are less moments that make your hair stand on end and your heart stiff with anticipation, but there is something fitting to be said about the control Noisia exhibit over all 20 tracks -  a control they've done a thousand times, like an operator knowing he works his last shift. And so, yes, whilst I do think this is Noisia's weakest project, I do not mean to degrade the magnitude of this sendoff in any manner.

What else is there to say? Every track on this album is still infused with the quality we revere Noisia for even today, working alongside the distinct styles of their collaborators - from Skrillex to The Upbeats, Camo & Krooked to IMANU, Former to Black Sun Empire - to continue bringing new sounds from those well-respected in the underground to light. "Closer" is not another gamechanger or jawdropper from the Dutch trio, but it's a fitting resolution.