Nordista Freeze is a psychedelic pop rock project and persona by singer, songwriter and tambourinist– Freeze.
His discography is defined by whimsical love songs and smooth ballads reminiscent of 60s pop tunes. However behind these gentle songs is a dramatic, high energy performer made for the stage.
Discography
Taking a look at his recorded discography, his most recent album “Big Sky Pipe Dream” is refreshingly sweet.
“Wysteria” is one of my favorite tracks off the album. Nordista Freeze creates a feeling of weightlessness in his songs. “Wysteria” in particular is a great example of the vocal and musical style Freeze has accomplished– airy, light and mystical.
The characteristics of 60s pop unite “Big Sky Pipe Dream”. However, this influence is relatively new in his work.
In his 2017 album “Cosmis Haus”, there is a greater presence of 90s pop-rock influences.
Track “Florida” off “Cosmis Haus” is bolder and a little more rustic– and captures the energy of his early work.
Something that is missing from “Big Sky Pipe Dream” is a slower, more sentimental track. “Good Time” demonstrates Freeze’s ability to slow it down and reflect beautifully.
I really admire Freeze’s ability to tie together high and low energy into his work– while still maintaining a bit of goofiness and otherworldly pop energy.
With each release his persona and sound continues to get more confident and bold.
The Narrative
One aspect that really pulled me into his music is the narrative he have built around his music.
In his artist bio on Spotify, this story is outlined best:
“A flaming blue orb came flying out of the sky and smashed into the earth, and there, lying sprawled in the crater, was a man wearing only his underwear with a tambourine in his hand. He rose to his knees and took off running over the rim of the crater and into the distance yelling ‘Na Na’. Where did he come from?”
Freeze has created a narrative of supernatural, time warping events that creates his music. It’s silly, goofy and set the foundation to his on-stage and off-stage presence.
Music has the power to redefine and reinvent the creators. In may ways Nordista Freeze and his music are one entity– and the two come alive in live performance.
Live Shows
I had the pleasure of seeing Nordista Freeze open for flipturn during their 2022 Shadowglow tour.
I was so excited to see flipturn and did not expect much from an opener– but I walked away that night amazed most by Nordista Freeze.
In my experience, openers typically give a solid performance but nothing over the top. The audience may dance a little and get warmed up, but I have never seen an audience mosh to an opener until Nordista Freeze.
What makes this even more remarkable is that his recorded work does not allude to his remarkable, chaotic stage energy at all.
Nordista Freeze opened as if he was the main event– and succeeded brilliantly.
It is clear he cares deeply about connecting with the audience, and Freeze goes above and beyond to ensure everyone walks away associating his music with a good time.
In an interview with SCAD Radio, Freeze elaborates on his goals as a performer,
“There are two goals, the internal one to make the art I want to make, which can be dissonant or cooperative with my secondary goal of interacting with a crowd and creating an engagement where people leave with good memories”
Freeze provides an infectiously excited energy to his shows. His recorded work simply does not convey the same level of radiating adrenaline and unbridled passion in comparison to live performance.
One of the elements I loved about his performance is the live vocal mixing and editing. As seen in this recorded performance, Freeze amplifies and adds to his songs throughout his live performances.
This love for live performance is prevalent in his booking history. As outlined in his artist bio:
“The Nashville psych-pop artist is such a prolific performer that, as of the beginning of May 2021, he boasted 516 live shows since 2016 — a rate of one every three nights for almost five years”
Concluding Thoughts
Nordista Freeze is a talented performer how brings a refreshing silliness and sweetness to the music industry.
I am excited to see how his work grows and matures through his career– and I’m looking forward to where his live performances take him next.
