Surrounded.

[Guillaume]

Basically it's more storytelling, more cinematic than NBTS.

I think that NBTS is already very "cinematic", i can see so many images when i listen to this album...the moods and sounds of the title track, "Blue ship", "Ocean Rising", "Green"...incredible. The songs i feel are the most "cinematic"/soundtracks vibe on SURROUNDED are "Sao Paulo" and "Amundsen".

While NBTS was mostly about sea and voyage this album has a broader spectrum of topics. '1975' has this all-encompassing bleakness pervading through the song. 'Stone and Heathe'r opens up the Yorkshire moors in my mind. 'Ungorgiven' paints a darkly beautiful picture of Corsica in my mind. 'Surrounded' shows me the northern coldness of Giske. 'Coming with me' feels like you are flying with the pilot in his suicidal aircraft dropping  into the sea never to be found. There's even the interior humming noises of the plane interior that you can hear at times. There's so much to be discovered in the lyrics and music it might take a while to take it all in.

You are right...it seems that there are various topics indeed, for example "Amundsen" tells a story, "Coming with me" a different one, also "1975" seems to be the (autobiographical) story from Justin in the USA this year, "Sao Paulo", etc.  Like i said for the moment i haven't translated/read all the lyrics so my first feelings about the album were mostly about the music, style.

I know it's hard not to, but I don't think comparisons to NBTS will do Surrounded justice. They are two very different albums. Surrounded reminds me of Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska; simple on the surface but with a lot of hidden beauty that reveals itself over time.

NBTS is a dreamy soundtrack that you can drift away to for an hour. Surrounded is much more raw and very direct. Like a voice in your ear. At times dark, claustrophobic and unnerving but with rays of light, like the album cover. The opening and closing tracks provide a fitting frame for the other songs. There is a lot to be discovered here if you want.

You are right too! Springsteen"s "Nebraska"...interesting. I guess that "Surrounded" depending on the listeners will be more or less immediate/involving than "Navigating by the stars"...different moods and topics in these albums, indeed.
I gave some CD copies of "Navigating by the stars" to some people i know, from 2003 to 2020, and the fun fact is that all these people liked/loved this album on first listen...even the ones who didn"'t like, didn"t care or didn't know about NMA!
I guess that it will be the same kind of reactions for "Surrounded".

[Sydowski]

I received my vinyl album on Saturday. Surrounded is beautifully arranged. Lots of goosebumps. Thanks to Mr Sullivan and all the people involved in making the album. I'm really looking forward to hearing some of the songs live for the first time in Nuremberg in September.

[cthulhu]

Having to go back to that dangerous and unfortunate situation, with somebody very evil pointing a gun to my head and telling me, that now i will have to live alone in this dark cellar until i die and i have to choose between NBTS and Surrounded...i will now decide not to choose anything! I will instead look him in the eye and say: "you're evil. and stupid. and i won't listen to you and you cannot threaten me. i would rather die than have to choose."
and then i would point at the sky behind him and shout: " look, there's a flying corona virus in the air behind you. " and when he turns around to have a look, i would disarm him and tell him to fkc off!
;-)

To me right now, Surrounded is a wonderful album, but it is way bigger than NBTS. As Henning said: "With 16 songs it's quite a lot to listen to and to take in." and i know myself and i know the works of this artist and i just know that my perception of the album will change with time. It will grow, i will discover things in it, i will get a better understanding of the lyrics, the moods and that's what i've learned to love about everything NMA and Justin have done. Hell i even know that songs which i didn't like at first changed into favourite ones over time.

I wish i could have a long train-travel, to look out of the window with Surrounded on headphones. I love that moving feeling while listening to music.

There were some immediate things that instantly got me one of those things were the violins on Unforgiven. Don't get me wrong, the whole album was an immediate love, but i know it will grow..
And while i was listening for the first time to it, the violins on Unforgiven were like "damn, i just love those violin play." Like a special effect in a movie, that you will remember when you get out of the cinema, an effect that told a story itself and added to the movie.

I wanted to point that out because Henning is reading here and just wanted to say: "damn, i love that violin sounds you've played and the way you played them"

And then i have a question. I didn't hear any percussion on it!? Do you hear percussions in that song? Am i deaf? ;-)

[Henning]

There were some immediate things that instantly got me one of those things were the violins on Unforgiven. Don't get me wrong, the whole album was an immediate love, but i know it will grow..
And while i was listening for the first time to it, the violins on Unforgiven were like "damn, i just love those violin play." Like a special effect in a movie, that you will remember when you get out of the cinema, an effect that told a story itself and added to the movie.

I wanted to point that out because Henning is reading here and just wanted to say: "damn, i love that violin sounds you've played and the way you played them"

And then i have a question. I didn't hear any percussion on it!? Do you hear percussions in that song? Am i deaf? ;-)

Thank you so much! "Unforgiven" is a song that clicked with me from the start because of it's guitar riff. It got even bigger by using two different guitar riffs doubled over each other. It's a song about Corsica and we actually had a version at one point where I played some parts on a Corsican flute. This flute is called a pivana and is made from a ram's horn. I got it from a flutemaker in Corsica and it's a beautiful instrument. In the end the flute part did not make the cut because it took away from the bleak and dark atmosphere which I totally agree upon. There were quite some different versions of several other tracks. "Sao Paolo" was totally different when I heard it first and at some point Justin came around with this new version which I absolutely love.

Regarding percussion I think it's just the shaker that I hear played by Michael :-)

[Johnz]

There were quite some different versions of several other tracks. "Sao Paolo" was totally different when I heard it first and at some point Justin came around with this new version which I absolutely love.

Oh I would love to hear those different versions, especially Sao Paulo. I think it's perfect the way it is but it would be great to hear it taken in a different direction. Maybe as bonus tracks on the 2031 10 year anniversary extended release 

[Johnz]

I gave some CD copies of "Navigating by the stars" to some people i know, from 2003 to 2020, and the fun fact is that all these people liked/loved this album on first listen...even the ones who didn"'t like, didn"t care or didn't know about NMA!
I guess that it will be the same kind of reactions for "Surrounded".

Same here. Most of my friends have never heard of NMA (I live in NZ). Even repeated exposure will not convince them that they are the best band ever. Many of them like NBTS though and will often ask 'who is this?' when play it in the car or at home. They usually regret that they asked though 

[Henning]

There were quite some different versions of several other tracks. "Sao Paolo" was totally different when I heard it first and at some point Justin came around with this new version which I absolutely love.

Oh I would love to hear those different versions, especially Sao Paulo. I think it's perfect the way it is but it would be great to hear it taken in a different direction. Maybe as bonus tracks on the 2031 10 year anniversary extended release 

I doubt these versions will see the light of day. There were definitely reasons why things turned out as they did eventually. Though a full salsa version of Sao Paolo with the full band might be fun :-)

[cthulhu]

I gave some CD copies of "Navigating by the stars" to some people i know, from 2003 to 2020, and the fun fact is that all these people liked/loved this album on first listen...even the ones who didn"'t like, didn"t care or didn't know about NMA!
I guess that it will be the same kind of reactions for "Surrounded".

Same here. Most of my friends have never heard of NMA (I live in NZ). Even repeated exposure will not convince them that they are the best band ever. Many of them like NBTS though and will often ask 'who is this?' when play it in the car or at home. They usually regret that they asked though 

So that's why NBTS was sold out for a while, both of you distributed them to the masses...;-)

@Henning
Thank you for your insights and information here! I can imagine that having even a different kind of instrument for this song is affecting the whole mood. And that's one interesting and i think also difficult part of the work behind the creating of music. Coming up with an idea, working on it, how to play it, listening back, getting different opinions, more ideas to work on and then deciding to let it go and doing something new. Your description of the background and the effect of the flute you played is very interesting. It fitted the song on a more abstract level because of the history but the mood was not what was wanted. And here i can say again, that your violin play does exactly what i was trying to express. It gives the song a "nervous" "dangerous" intense edge, beautiful but sad...

And yes, it would be very interesting to have different versions of the songs. But i could wait for that for the, as Johnz said "Maybe as bonus tracks on the 2031 10 year anniversary extended release"

[Johnz]

I doubt these versions will see the light of day. There were definitely reasons why things turned out as they did eventually. Though a full salsa version of Sao Paolo with the full band might be fun :-)

You're probably right. There is also no great need when there is still a steady flow of great new songs.

A salsa version sounds like a lot of fun 

[Guillaume]

I gave some CD copies of "Navigating by the stars" to some people i know, from 2003 to 2020, and the fun fact is that all these people liked/loved this album on first listen...even the ones who didn"'t like, didn"t care or didn't know about NMA!
I guess that it will be the same kind of reactions for "Surrounded".

Same here. Most of my friends have never heard of NMA (I live in NZ). Even repeated exposure will not convince them that they are the best band ever. Many of them like NBTS though and will often ask 'who is this?' when play it in the car or at home. They usually regret that they asked though 

Yes, for most of the people this album is love at first listen, incredible!
Last time i've offered it was last Christmas, to a friend who, incredible, didn't care about "Thunder and consolation" and found the "Living in the rose the Ballads EP" just "ok", he thought that "Navigating by the stars" was magic, much more powerful than the few NMA albums he"s listened to, with lots of depth and
he even said it was much better than another CD i've offered to him, the mythical, legendary Neil Young's "Harvest"!

I gave some CD copies of "Navigating by the stars" to some people i know, from 2003 to 2020, and the fun fact is that all these people liked/loved this album on first listen...even the ones who didn"'t like, didn"t care or didn't know about NMA!
I guess that it will be the same kind of reactions for "Surrounded".

Same here. Most of my friends have never heard of NMA (I live in NZ). Even repeated exposure will not convince them that they are the best band ever. Many of them like NBTS though and will often ask 'who is this?' when play it in the car or at home. They usually regret that they asked though 

So that's why NBTS was sold out for a while, both of you distributed them to the masses...;-)

probably!
Justin himself said that the sales for this album haven't been huge, but like all cult works of art, its word of mouth reputation has grown and built through the years, decades, so that's why it's been "out of print", sold out.


New JS interview:

https://www.scienceofnoise.net/entrevista-a-justin-sullivan-lider-de-new-model-army-nuestrosecreto-es-que-nunca-hemos-intentado-complacer-a-nadie-mas-que-a-nosotros-mismos/

[Tarsier]

I haven't checked the internet for ages... And now just came to drop a short message: the parcel finally arrived today - I'm about to go home now and listen to Surrounded for the very first time...

[Simon73]

I listened to the first 4 songs of the A side of the vinyl for the first time with my wife tonight.
Stunning work dear >Justin, stunning. thank you.

[Henning]

Listened to the album again but now the mastered version for the first time. I still get goosebumps throughout "Coming with me". This is such a detailed and sensitive description of character and situation which is rarely heard in a song. I really admire Justin for this gift of putting complete character analysis and their history into a few lines of lyrics. It's the same with "Amundsen". 

[lupus225]

I must say don't like the new CD very much, there's a handful of ok songs but IMHO none of them comes even close to the quality of NBTS.
I had the same "problem" with From Here.

[Guillaume]

I must say don't like the new CD very much, there's a handful of ok songs but IMHO none of them comes even close to the quality of NBTS.
I had the same "problem" with From Here.

That's interesting, i think that FROM HERE has a bit of a NAVIGATING BY THE STARS feel to it at times ("Conversation", "Maps", "setting sun"..)
I still prefer NBTS, but give another chance to SURROUNDED  , one week after its release and one dozen of listenings, i think that it is a grower, a solid, very good album...