The new year of 2025 has already seen some pretty major releases from the likes of Bad Bunny, Mac Miller, FKA Twigs, Ethel Cain and more. Before The Weeknd completely dominates the mainstream and all music discussion by the end of the week, I would like to share and review a new album by a young Michigan artist, Niki Dewolf, releasing as- SUPERCOLLIDER.
Dewolf gained some recent attention from her last two albums “Cut Across That Field & Find Home” from 2024 and “新世紀 Sunbelt Princess” which released on the new year in collaboration with Lua Trilogy!, both of which showcased her abilities as a guitarist and sampler. This time around, Dewolf delivers a noisy post-punk record that wears its influences on its sleeves.
The album starts with “Cabin Girl,” an incredible tone-setter. We hear the guitar play some unorthodox chords, reminiscent of noise rock outfits like “Chat Pile,” More layers and appearances of post-punk vocals get added and whine throughout the rest of the track, whilst simultaneously leaving room for the instrumental to evolve and show off. This song structure, like many others on the album, is very reminiscent of The Cure and Xiu Xiu.
“Leather Clams” is just a flat-out good noise rock cut with some good instrumentation, good screaming and passionate chorus.
“Sweet Rot” starts us off slow and steady with some moody guitar instrumentation that builds up until the minute and a half mark, when it blows into a euphoric cacophony of layered guitars, bass, synth and drums. It then brings us back to the main groove with some grade-A post-punk whining. The back half of the track does not slack off either, as we return to the cacophony heard earlier in the song, which is expanded to include Niki’s whines in the background.
This being only the third track of the record really cemented for me that none of this is a fluke. While I was aware of SUPERCOLLIDER, I only really listened to the album briefly, so I’m really impressed hearing it in full now. The first three tracks effectively inform me of what Dewolf is capable of musically, who her influences are, and how she can apply her sound to them.
On “Lungs,” the tone abruptly changes from moody and gothic to comically simple and upbeat. This whole song is stripped back in production, as a simple electronic drum loop lays the backbeat for the whole track, the guitar is much simpler, and the vocals are bit-crushed. It’s such an unexpected left turn that ends up being a major highlight on the project, coming together with a “laughable” (compliment) chorus that reminds me of something The Garden would do.
“Oath” is another stand out track that has an oddly superior production quality to most of the other songs on this project. The track is more synth-heavy and delivers Dewolf’s most engaging lyrics on the project. Funnily enough, the lead synth melody instantly reminded me of something I would hear in an early The Killers album, which is to say it’s very catchy.
The project concludes with “The Punishment,” a ten-minute long journey. While not exactly eventful for the whole runtime, the instrumentation ideas are interesting enough to keep me engaged the whole way through without feeling like the track drags on too much. Knowing Dewolf’s past with Luacollider, a 10-minute track isn’t anything to fear.
As with any small up and coming artist releasing music independently, the biggest problem is the mixing and production quality, which while noticeable, does not take away from the engaging sound offered on this project.
This album is focused on instrumentation and song structure, although the songwriting leaves a little bit to be desired, as it’s not currently as engaging that I believe Dewolf has the potential to be. Nitpicky criticisms that apply to almost every young independent artist aside, “The Heart Beating as None” is a pleasantly engaging and inspiration filled project to kickstart my, and hopefully your, 2025 in music.
Rating: 3.75/5