Album Review: Nene Heroine – 4 (2025; Mystic Records)

(originally published at Avant Music News)

Saxophones in fusion, prog, and avant-rock situations often end up playing the same part they do in mainstream jazz. They dish out the melody, take the first solo--more often than not, they do all the frontman stuff. The Polish quartet Nene Heroine employs a fairly common lineup of sax, guitar, bass, and drums, but the presumptive lead voice takes a non-standard role.

Nene Heroine’s new album, their fourth, is entitled 4. It opens with a horn hook that could be ripped from 80’s pop radio. Bright and catchy, with a bit of electronic shine. If saxman Peter Stanley Chester hasn’t been listening to a lot of David Sanborn, he’s been listening to people who listened to a lot of Sanborn. Over the course of the album, he handles some melodies, sits on the occasional background riff, and (of course) takes a couple of screaming solos. But he keeps coming back to those hooks. Think “Careless Whispers,” minus the George Michael part.

The group makes at least one of their idols clear, with a track called “Bowie.” They didn’t have to tell us. Despite a sound that is somehow both glossy and fuzzy, with varying levels of effects on everybody almost all the time, a lot of the melodies and progressions could, like that opening hook, be pulled straight from the pop archives.

What gives the album its sense of adventure is a tension between the inside-the-lines tunes and four musicians who are ready to push them right up to the breaking point. On “Gold & Silver,” the sax offers the sweetest melody of the set, then builds up to the wildest squeals. The closer, “Black Tattoo,” ventures toward metal territory. But as if to balance the aggressiveness, the quartet sticks closer than ever to the tune.

Nene Heroine has created a unique sound, which is no small feat for a group finding their way down so many well-trodden paths. This is an album I’ll come back to, humming along with the hooks--even if I’m not entirely sure they want me to.