Nelward
Nelward Vinyl (Volume One)

Listening notes

Nelward's *Nelward Vinyl (Volume One)*, released in 2024 on Echo Base Records under catalog number NEL-VINYL-NV1, presents fourteen tracks across two sides, spanning genres that include Art Rock, Electronic, Indie Pop, Pop, and Rock. The title's parenthetical qualifier — Volume One — signals an intent, or at least an openness, to continue the series.

The A side opens with "Sleepwalk" at 2:58 and moves through a sequence of relatively compact tracks: "Ghost" (2:37), "Apple Shampoo" (2:14), "Never Wanna Fall (In Love With U)" (3:01), and "Sadboi" (3:45). "Fashion" closes out the conventional A side at an even four minutes before "DVD," a fifty-second piece, follows. Brief interludes of this kind are not unusual in vinyl sequencing, though what function "DVD" serves here is a question the tracklist alone cannot answer.

The B side is paced more expansively. "Lydia" opens at 3:18, followed by "The Runaround" (4:10), "The Werewolf" (3:03), and "Why Would I?" (2:42). The closing listed track, "The Sum Of All Our Sirens," runs to 5:45 — the longest piece on the record by a meaningful margin. The release also notes hidden tracks, with "Get Off The Pot" assigned position B6 and clocking in at 0:32.

The total runtime, calculated from the listed durations, comes to approximately 41 minutes and 45 seconds, though the hidden track designation for B6 suggests the physical sequencing may differ from what a standard tracklist conveys. Collectors and catalogers should note that the hidden track status of "Get Off The Pot" may affect how the groove layout appears on the physical disc.