Ners: “Silence brings life” – the tracks are consistently compelling

Ners are a rock band from Reggio Emilia, a small city in the north of Italy. Formed in 2002, they have recorded four albums, “Fading out”, “Ners”,  ” A new beginning” and “Silence brings life”. Ners have played gigs on many Italian and European stages and have performed as an opening act to artists such as Ian Paice (Deep Purple).Their best achievement has been reaching the final of Emergenza Rock at the Taubertall Open Air Festival and grabbing a stunning sixth place. The band’s self-produced video for the song “Jupiter’s tale” also won the prestigious Pivi award.

Ners who are comprised of: Alberto Bertolini – vocals, guitars, Fabio Festinese – drums, Paolo Mega – guitars, Stefano Ferrari – bass and Marco Casini – keyboards, synth,  cite their main influences as eighties and nineties bands such as The Cure, Pearl Jam, Counting Crows, Radiohead and others. “Silence brings life” is their latest 10-track album, filled with haunting music and poetry.

NERS-400The music created by the Ners is so honest and emotional it seems to be out of time. Relating more to the great bands they mention as influences, rather than being a current-day release where 2-chord bands are more popular than fast-food. “Silence brings life” is simply full of superb music. Complete with wonderful songwriting, infectious and melodic hooks, outstanding lyrics, evocative vocals, and master musicianship.

From Alberto Bertolini’s impassioned vocals and cryptic lyrics to the jangling instrumentation, the songs gel perfectly. While the organic production, keeps the rough edges in place, helping the music to breathe, but the real success of the album is due to the band themselves, who have matured gracefully over 4 albums and many live performances.

The music on this album feels natural and immediate, and upon closer inspection, the craft of each member really shines through. The songs are tight, with strong hooks on the choruses, and nice, memorable melody lines; the arrangements are earthy, but they’re never cluttered. Most importantly, the band does not overwrite or over-emote, turning in a set of well-balanced rock songs to tantalize your ears.

But the best thing about “Silence brings life” is that it holds together as a cohesive album while providing some of the best individual songs in the band’s catalog. The album tracks are consistently compelling, ranging from the winding narrative of “Waiting for the sun” to the sprawling acoustically driven “Night vibes”, onto the reverberating “Time” and the measured, melancholic, piano ballad “Silence brings life.” These subtle differences – the confident performances, cohesion, and assured songwriting – add up to Ners’ strongest album to date. They may recall rock giants of the past, but only in the best possible way – by crafting an album that ebbs and flows like the best classic rock records of our time.

Ners maintain a position at the pinnacle of contemporary indie rock music with their latest album. Everything they do, every song they write is near flawless. They are as fluent writing upbeat songs as they are writing somber ballads. What is even more astonishing is their ability to consistently preserve the profound meaning of the songs they write. Ners put work into their music, and that’s what I love about them!

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