It makes a certain kind of sense that Nite Jewel's music sprung from the underbelly of L.A. Despite its unpolished aesthetic and Ramona Gonzalez's professed aversion to more conventional ideas about glamour (there she is, spewing neon vomit at a swanky photo shoot in the clip for "Artificial Intelligence"), her music exists in the realm of gauzy fantasy: it is a dream world made reality. Up until now, all of the slinky, lo-fi electro-pop that Gonzalez has made as Nite Jewel has been molten and surreal, conjuring Dali paintings with drum machines and keyboards melting in place of clocks. Some of the moments on her 2009 debut Good Evening and her 2010 Am I Real? EP shone brighter than others, but they all crafted an atmosphere of mystery: it was nearly impossible to glean any specifics about the lyrics, not to mention the persona of the singer uttering them. Her latest LP, One Second of Love prompts a question that most artists who've carefully cultivated a sense of enigma have got to confront sooner or later (just ask the Weeknd or Lana Del Rey): what happens when mystery evaporates?
In the context of her catalogue, then, the cover of One Second of Love feel like the Nite Jewel equivalent of Meet the Beatles. The image-- like the music it represents-- is forthright and clear; you immediately get the idea that this record is her coming out party. And from the opening moments of "This Story", there's an obvious change in her sound: with its lucid, minimalist production, One Second of Love is the first Nite Jewel record that sounds like it takes place in the waking world. It's also an attempt to bring the poppier impulses to the forefront of her songs. The press release cites plenty of avant-garde influences, but also-- perhaps most importantly-- the 1990s R&B-pop of TLC and SWV.
The expertly minimalist lead-off single "One Second of Love" makes an early argument that this new sound is definitely a step in the right direction. The track has a buoyant, danceable beat (it's been said that Nite Jewel makes the kind of dance music that you can't actually dance to, but this is Gonzalez's strongest ever rebuttal to that claim), and an uncluttered atmosphere that blooms-- thanks to some Gary Numan-like synths and backing vocals from Julia Holter-- at just a couple of choice moments. The ballad "In the Dark" slows things down but still boasts one of the record's catchiest choruses, while the funk-inflected, sputtering-yet-smooth "She's Always Watching You" sounds like the Dirty Projectors covering Sade. "These girls are always smilin'/ At these late night events," she sings, perhaps professing some of the stresses of living out married life on a stage (her husband, Cole M. Greif-Neill of the Samps and formerly Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, plays on the record and in her touring band). "Baby, can't you see that I am through?/ Cause she's always watching you."
One Second of Love runs into some problems in its second half, particularly during the slower, starker tracks like "Unearthly Delights" and "No I Don't." Even on her lo-fi records, Nite Jewel's best when anchored by some kind of beat; Good Evening tracks like "Bottom Rung" and "Universal Mind" show how vague and occasionally downright tedious her music can become when it's not tethered to some kind of driving pulse. And because One Second of Love eschews Good Morning's layered, kitchen-sink atmospherics, its dull moments feel exceptionally dull because the atmosphere is so thin. Though the gentle groove of the penultimate track "Autograph" provides a late jolt to the album, its back half feels particularly disappointing given that the A-side boasts some of Nite Jewel's strongest material to date.
In the end, One Second of Love is enjoyable but slight: its stronger moments render the weaker ones particularly forgettable. "One Second of Love" and "She's Always Watching You" show that minimalism do occasionally suit Nite Jewel well, but in cleaning up her sound she's also scrubbed away too many of the textures that made her music so distinct. Still, One Second of Love marks an unmistakably huge progression for Gonzalez as a songwriter: she's developing a keener ear for melody and a more confident delivery. This record isn't quite the breakout statement that it seems to be shooting for, but its highlights are ample proof that there's more to Nite Jewel than just smoke and mirrors.
