Nolan soars solo

As one of the “punk” or “emo” scene’s biggest heroes, John Nolan’s first solo venture has been highly anticipated all year.

And just as he did with Taking Back Sunday earlier this decade and Straylight Run a few years later, Nolan has delivered something vastly different from anything he’s done previously. 

While he shredded on the guitar for Taking Back Sunday and tickled the ivory keys for Straylight, Nolan expands his musical horizon further on “Height,” introducing chimes, xylophones and organs to supplement his incisive lyrics.

The three opening tracks of “Height” are all great efforts, with “Til It’s Done To Death” bouncing along to Nolan’s key work, “I Don’t Believe You” playing with some interesting orchestral elements and “Screaming Into The Wind” funking around while Nolan spits acerbic lines (“Guilt is relative / So is sin / It makes it easy to pretend”).

“Height” is not without its flaws, as the middle of the album drags, the musical exploration sometimes muddles up the compositions and Nolan doesn’t take nearly as many chances vocally as he does musically. But in a time when innocuous sameness rules in music, Nolan’s risks here are worth it no matter what.