Through force of will alone, Nicolay has gone from a bedroom producer confined to message boards to a nationally known artist and now owner of his own label. TIME:LINE‘s release is a symbolic victory as it pertains to his career, but is also a big artistic victory given the growth it displays over 2006’s Here. Due to the rhyming being handled primarily by Kay alone, the duo is able to make TIME:LINE a concept album that musically explores the stages of life from birth to death and the singularity is a welcome change over Nicolay‘s compilation-like work.
Kay‘s biggest strength lies in his dedication to the concept of the album. His rhyme technique doesn’t immediately stand out, but his ability to extend an idea over the course of an entire song (let alone album) is notable. There isn’t any abundance of laugh-out-loud punch lines or tongue-twisting rhyme schemes, but Kay works with the music and appropriately communicates its intentions. The highs and lows of his delivery match those of the track on “I’ve Seen Rivers,” and he makes especially significant adjustments to his style on the ending tracks “When You Die” and “Dancing With the Stars.”
In addition to the loose lyrical narrative driving the album, Nicolay helps tell the story by making variations on his production techniques as the album progresses, creating a gradual time line of his own. The opening tracks are based on raw, organic sounds and song by song, the music gets more electronic and syncopated, subtly enforcing the concept of the project rather than putting a big neon sign on it. The lo-fi horn samples on the early “Blizzard” are a clear contrast to the more polished and synthesized “As the Wheel Turns” later on, but the two tracks still feel like part of the same album and the transition feels natural.
If there’s an issue with the album as a whole, it’s that the idea isn’t quite specific enough to accomplish as much as it could have. Is it a biography of any specific person? Is it meant to be a social commentary of some sort? It’s hard to say as Nicolay and Kay stop just short of making any clearly defined point.
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Nevertheless, the lack of clarity doesn’t really detract from the album so much as it holds it back. TIME:LINE is still satisfying enough to be worth the listen and shows exciting progress for the up and coming producer. Kay meanwhile shows that, should he find the right niche, could be capable of doing some very original work with the genre. If this is an indication of what Nicolay will be doing with his label, we have a lot to look forward to on Nicolay Music‘s time line.
