Nate Mercereau's 'Fantastic Thoughts' Is a Blazing Masterpiece of One-Man Maximalism
Nate Mercereau spent the 2010s playing on records you own without knowing it — Jay-Z’s 4:44, The Weeknd’s After Hours, a run of Lizzo’s biggest hits — before Carlos Niño brought him into the ensemble André 3000 assembled for New Blue Sun. “He’s a magician,” André said. “He hardly ever sounds like he is playing a guitar.” Fantastic Thoughts, out on Leaving Records, is what happens when that guy stops being tasteful.
The Sonic Breakdown
The Production & Mix
The Low-End: The drums here are Mercereau’s own, and they’re mixed like a lead instrument rather than a floor — The Quietus hears “machine-gun drums” and “syncopated metal drums” bludgeoning the synth beds on “Accelerator.” The bottom end isn’t a cushion; it’s a weapon. The Spatial Dynamics: This is a record that has to make one person sound like six, and it does it vertically. Guitars, flutes, electronics and synths stack in layers rather than spreading sideways, which is why the seven-minute opener “There’s Something Here…” can drop out into “a few minutes of euphoric ambient respite” and come back, in Cal Cashin’s words, “with a wild-eyed vengeance.” Even Mercereau’s vocal, under a cloak of reverb, is treated as texture.
Standout Performance
Mercereau on flute, of all things. “Extreme Violet” has him treating it “just as brutally as any of the drums on here” — a genuinely new sound for an instrument that usually gets handed the pretty part.
Why It’s Certified
⚡ “Accelerator” is the thesis: neon synthesizers and radiant guitars, endlessly elevating. 🌈 “NewNow” offers vaporwave-shaped breathing room; “…Discovery” and “Radical Possible Realities” warp time until the psychedelia does the work.
The Quietus: “every gamble pays off,” and it “might be the best album he’s ever been involved with.” Certified great.