Mister Nobu: Best Of Me
The new solo single from Choir! Choir! Choir! co-founder Nobu Adilman is an orch-pop tune featuring heartfelt vocals and lavish strings.
By Kerry Doole
Mister Nobu - Best Of Me (Arts & Crafts): Mister Nobu is the solo project of Nobu Adilman, co-founder/director of Toronto's groundbreaking Choir! Choir! Choir!.
This is the first single from his upcoming LP Tavie, out March 27 via Arts & Crafts. “The album is all about the highs, lows, and ultimate breakup of a 20-year marriage but, the record begins with ‘Best Of Me’, a song about my father [Sid Adilman, a longtime movie critic for The Toronto Star] who died over ten years ago,” says Adilman, in a label press release. “Working through the grief, I developed a stronger relationship with the dead, realizing that these bonds can continue to develop despite the absence of physical presence. That shift in perspective has made me feel less alone.”
The tune begins with sombre piano and heartfelt vocals, then swells into orchestral pop territory with lavish strings.
Adilman describes the full album as “mostly about connection, From my TV work to music stuff, I generally like to explore human interaction by throwing everyone into weird and collaborative creative environments. Music has a beautiful way of pulling people’s guards down, and cutting through lots of emotional red tape quickly. Music helps me process my emotions, my life, and, if I can get it down in a song, then I feel more resolved.”
Tavie was produced by Rob Benvie (Thrush Hermit/Bankruptcy), and mixed by Byron Kent Wong, mastered by Noah Mintz at Lacquer Channel Mastering. Guests include Benvie, Mike Belitsky (The Sadies), Matt Murphy (The Super Friendz), Moshe Fisher Rozenberg (Absolutely Free), members of Choir! Choir! Choir!, and Danielle Duval, with string arrangements by Chris A. Cummings (Marker Starling) and Benvie.
Choir! Choir! Choir! has collaborated with David Byrne, Patti Smith, Stewart Copeland, Rufus Wainwright, Brandi Carlile, and more. They’ve racked up millions of views on YouTube, sung for Lionel Richie on American Idol, been the subject of a half-hour PBS All Arts special for their 2019 performance at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, and performed at Carnegie Hall and Radio City Music Hall. And, most recently, held a gig at the border between Mexico and the US, with Nobu leading a group of singers from a stage in Tijuana, and his partner, on the other side of the wall, in San Diego.
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