Review: Jacob Pavek’s “NINA”
It’s been a few years since we last checked in on local artist Jacob Pavek when his record NOME topped my year-end list of best local releases in 2019. Pavek is back in my top ten lists again this year with his latest album, NINA, out now via Midwestern Records.
Composed of 8 tracks and clocking in at around 30 minutes, NINA is a great if concise listen. For what he lacks in breadth Pavek makes up for in the sheer beauty of his mostly instrumental works. Primarily composed of plaintive and expertly succinct piano chords, Pavek’s tunes feel like meditations on melancholy. Violin contributions from Milo Weil double down on the heartstring-pulling and by the time ghostly vocals show up courtesy of Ellyse Wagener, the mood is firmly bittersweet.
While it conveys a somber tone NINA is anything but a slog. In his wistful compositions Pavek finds a sweet spot between bliss and sorrow such that one could easily find his music an appropriate accompaniment to either end of the spectrum. Getting lost in NINA, one is likely to encounter a wide scope of conveyed emotion; the only one that is hard to imagine is boredom.
Stream/purchase NINA here or below.
