Last Tuesday, The Nobility released their debut full-length album, The Mezzanine. If you like The Beatles, Fruit Bats, or Ron Sexsmith, you are going to like this album. So in other words, if you have a pulse, you are going to like this album. I really dig the arrangements of songs, and the variations of tempos from one song to the next. I also don’t come across many bands that change the tempo within a song as much as The Nobility does. The first time I heard “Let Me Hang Around,” I thought I wasn’t going to like the song, and was almost tempted to skip the track, but just then, the tempo slowed down, which completely changed the mood of the song. Usually, you get your bands that either rock out or play acoustic melodies, and I am personally a big fan of bands that can find a proper balance between the two. The Nobility experiments with a variety of instruments on The Mezzanine, including the cello, tuba, saxophone, flute, violin and French horn. The best songs on the album are by far the first two tracks, the first of which shares its name with the album, and the second, entitled “Hallelujah Chorus.” The beginning of the first track reminds me a lot of the Beatles song, “Blackbird.” The other songs I most recommend are “Angel’s Debut,” “Gold Blue Sky,” and “Worth Your While.” This is one of those albums that you will be hearing more about sooner or later, so I’d recommend you jump on the bandwagon now before it gets crowded.

The Nobility comes from Nashville, TN. Sean Williams is the lead singer, songwriter and guitarist, Stephen Jerkins dabbles in piano, organ, guitar and backing vocals, and Brian Fuzzell plays drums and percussion. David Dewese, who left the band to focus on other projects, played bass for the band in 2005 and 2006, and helped record the album. For now, a host of friends and enemies fill in bass duties. The band said they are inspired by The Beatles and The Kinks, and constantly listened to them while recording. The band was originally named Jetpack, but as they describe, “another band had the copyright or at least a better lawyer and so a name change occurred.”

The Mezzanine (2007):

The Nobility – “The Mezzanine”

The Nobility – “Hallelujah Chorus”

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