NER*D have Nothing to lose with their new album

According to Pharrell Williams, N*E*R*D*’s highly anticipated fourth album is just as progressive as their last. For those fans of the old-school rock, ‘Nothing’ is apparently ‘Riders on the Storm’ meet ‘Hotel California’ with Pharrell describing the album as a mix between ‘The Doors’ and ‘America’. Anyone who has listened to the hip-hop funk band know that N*E*R*D* is Pharrell’s brainchild and it seems that with ‘Nothing’, he is being more adventurous than ever.

As he says: “I didn’t want to keep producing the same stuff. With ‘Nothing’, I’m back to producing a whole bunch of new sounds…I always go too creative on myself and subject my band members to my wanting to forge the new path.”

N*E*R*D* was essentially formed as a side project of the ‘Neptunes’ – the super successful production duo comprised of Pharrell and his life-long friend Chad Hugo. The band is made up of both Pharrell and Chad alongside Shay Haley on percussion, but they haven’t received nearly the same recognition as most ‘Neptunes’ produced songs.

That’s not to say that what they’ve released hasn’t been of quality. Both ‘Fly or Die’ and ‘In Search of…’ sold more than 500,000 copies in the US and songs such as ‘Lapdance’, ‘Bobby James’, ‘She Wants To Move’ and ‘Maybe’ remain the best of their genre. The problem is that this genre is not nearly as accessible as the mainstream tracks the ‘Neptunes’ notoriously produce. As Pharrell says, “For pop, there’s a process. It’s got to go through so a 6-year-old can get it like a 60-year-old. Our album now, if you fuck with N*E*R*D* you will love it, but it’s different juxtaposed to your average pop act, like your Jay Sean. It’s just too real.”

The first single from the album ‘Hot-n-Fun’ (feat. Nelly Furtado) was released in May. Influences from either ‘The Doors’ or ‘America’ are yet to be noticed but you never know what Pharrell can come up with. Due for release in October, you heard it from the horse’s mouth; ‘Nothing’ ‘is just too real’.

N*E*R*D will be performing live at Summadayze Melbourne and Perth and Summafieldayze in the Gold Coast.