Nakatomi are a electro-pop duo from Adelaide. In October they released their debut single, 'The Knife'.
Synth-heavy with industrial beats and offering a generous nod to the '80s, “'The Knife' is about the downward spiral of bad experiences or relationships,” explains lead vocalist, Emily Smart, “but choosing to see some beauty in the fall rather than getting consumed by it.
Nakatomi“We worked with Badcop [Tkay Maidza] on the sound design and sought out Melbourne producer-engineer Jimi Maroudas [Kimbra, Bertie Blackman] to produce and mix, and tracking was done at the amazing Chapel Lane Studios in Adelaide.”
Ahead of a string of local shows this month, Nakatomi share five new-age bands influenced by the '80s.
1. Interpol - 'Turn On The Bright Lights'
Hamish still remembers the first time he heard 'Obstacle 1' in his mum's car and she said: "What is this crap?" then went to turn over the radio. He almost made her crash the car trying to stop her hand from getting near the contemporary-jazz button. He then had to spend a week asking all his friends what this song was (ahh, how did we survive before Shazam).When he found out and heard 'Turn On the Bright Lights' for the first time it blew his face literally off. The Peter Hook-style basslines high up the fret board, the shoegaze Cure-style guitars and the Joy Division-styled vocals just screams '80s. It brought back something that people had forgotten from the '80s and that was that it wasn't just cheese and synths. There was some dark, cool stuff that came out of that decade and 'Turn On The Bright Lights' was the album that shined the light back on that style.
2. The Killers - 'Hot Fuss'
'Hot Fuss' was a synth-driven '80s fest that captured the best of the old-British pop songs from that era, which was very strange for a band from Las Vegas. The thing that made it standout the most from other bands at the time was that it took old synths and sounds and not only mixed it with cool, indie tracks but often gave it the spotlight. From the soaring leads of 'Jenny Was A Friend of Mine' to the synth drive of 'On Top', 'Hot Fuss' took the synth sounds of the '80s and made them not only work in a modern track, but actually become the drive of most of the tracks. It was like someone discovering how good bacon is and then putting it in everything they eat to make it more delicious.Hamish was a bass player at the time and after hearing this album he went out and bought a synth, and has not regretted it since. This album made synths cool again for the first time since the '80s. If synths were the nerdy girl in class in an '80s film, then this album was the moment when it took off it's glasses, let down its hair and everybody realised she was hot! Their new albums may suck, but they can do what they want after 'Hot Fuss'!
3. Future Islands
Like Peter Garett being attacked by bees, Samuel Herring has some weird-ass dance moves, but damn can he write a tune. Future Islands is the modern '80s. Polished, well produced and incredibly weird live their show captures something that has sort of been relegated to the bench in pop performances for a while – that chaos and weirdness is cool.Sure we have the Nikki Minaj's and Lady Gaga's going weird, but that's more controlled. Future Islands isn't. It's reminiscent of old Kate Bush or Prince performances where they just did want they felt when they were on stage and we love it. Also their music is hugely influenced by the '80s. Listen to 'Seasons' and you can't tell us you don't hear that belting out of a 'Miami Vice' commercial. Future Islands is like watching a tornado and trying to figure out what it will throw at you next. Could it be a fence post, a cow or a boxset of 'Firefly'? Who the fuck knows and who cares. Just enjoy the ride.
4. FKA Twigs
We know there's probably more '80s-styled modern artists than FKA Twigs out there, but we think she fills a spot that a lot of other acts don't. She creates dark wave, sparse '80s-inspired tracks. If you listen to 'Two Weeks' you can picture it blasting out of an old Ultravox album or a Tears For Fears 'Shout' B-Side. There's a modern soundscape going on in her tracks, but the writing does have a hint of cool, dark-wave '80s and we love that. We also like the strange aesthetic and image she's created; very Bowie-esque in nature. She's so cool that if Andre 3000 screamed: "What's cooler then being cool?" the crowd would just respond with "FKA TWIGS!"5. The Presets
'Apocalypso' was awesome through and through. The '80s nostalgia was so thick on that album you could cut it with a knife, deep fry it and serve it up. The equipment they used was '80s, the vocal tones were '80s and the end product was so '80s it was like sitting in Ferris Bueller's bedroom. The best part was that the tracks were awesome and it took that '80s aesthetic and made it work in modern tracks. It also opened the door for a lot of cool electro artists. So cool, so good, so damn catchy.Honourable mentions: Cut Copy, Miami Horror, Client Liaison, City Calm Down.
Nakatomi play the following Adelaide shows: Grace Emily Hotel 19 December with Sparkspitter and Koral & The Goodbye Horses; Pint Before Xmas at the Ed Castle 24 December; Nakatomi support Miami Horror at Fat Controller 26 December.
