Crate Digging is a recurring feature in which an artist presents several albums within a theme that all music fans should know about. In this edition, Brooklyn synth-pop trio Nation of Language elaborate on their favorite albums for living in the city.

“In Manhattan, you cannot have it all,” Nation of Language’ s Ian Devaney sang on the opening line of A Way Forward , the New York trio’s 2021 sophomore album. Like that rather dramatic lyric suggests, the shadow of the city looms large in Nation of Language’s discography. Their frenetic synth-pop sound mirrors the pace of the New York’s crowded streets and busy intersections; the way big emotions tumble out of the band in climactic, cathartic fashion is akin to asking “can anyone hear me?” in sea of pedestrians, to being that person

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