Cloud Nothings' Dylan Baldi Embarrassed By Vocals On Last Album

Dylan Baldi is the first to admit that Cloud Nothings are a simple band. But on the trio's new full-length Here And Nowhere Else, they've found a way to take these average elements and make something remarkable. The Cleveland group have returned with a record that stands as a logical successor to the Steve Albini-produced Attack On Memory, the new album faster, louder and more crisp that anything in the band's catalogue.

“Creatively speaking there's not a whole lot to do with the songs we make and the band we are,” says Baldi, “so as long as someone understands that the results end up sounding good.” That “someone” this time around was John Congleton (The Walkmen, The Polyphonic Spree), who, according to Baldi, immediately understood what the band wanted from Here And Nowhere Else. One thing was assured vocals.

“The reason I sang a little different, it sounds different, is that when I listen back to Attack On Memory – which I don't do very often – but when I do the only thing that kinda embarrasses me in a way is the vocal – I don't like the way I sing,” reveals the frontman. “On this one I made a point of going, 'Okay, I'm going to do something where I can actually listen to it and not be upset, not cringing the whole time'.

“I couldn't listen to [Attack On Memory], so recording that was a bane because you'd just have to listen to the vocal line, and you'd go, 'Oh, Steve, turn that off'. This one I just wanted to sing a bit more confidently, in a way that I could stand behind.”

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