Napoleon Baby – Everybody’s Watching and Nobody Cares (13th Floor Album Review)
Auckland-based post-punk and indie band Napoleon Baby have finally released their debut album, titled Everybody’s Watching and Nobody Cares. A bold statement for a society that often feels like it’s fraying at the edges, Napoleon Baby might just be what’s needed in the music scene right now.
The album opens with Rome, an introduction that’s full of deep bass. Exploring throughout the themes of running away, regeneration and an undercurrent of sensualism, it’s the inclusion of the guitar at the end that really adds another dimension. From the opening, it’s a purpose-driven sound and one that effortlessly flows with multiple layers.
Sweet Liberty Ploy opens much more electronically, leading into lyrics that come across almost as a warning. With lines such as ‘disillusioned with love, not what it used to be / so addictive in person’, it’s cynical but something about it also feels relatable. Napoleon Baby also incorporates a section of the song in which a variety of hyper-charged words are spoken, rather than sung to the listener, including ‘smooth liberty’, ‘dogmatic’, ‘tectorum’, ‘don’t matter’, and ‘divided.’ As an album that primarily focuses on heavy topics like culture and progressiveness, it’s the first song that really emphasises those notions.
Outlaws, released in 2024, is a track about living on autopilot, but not wondering if the direction you’re going in is the correct one for you. Living in an age of outrage for popularity, the instrumentals are angry and passionate, with drums during the opening and the cutting in of guitar hooks mid-song. Sailors opens with similarly heavy guitar, as the band dive into the topics of people with big egos that hide behind self-diagnoses. It’s one of the more cutting singles on the album, sharp and often featuring expletives, especially when the lyrics cast doubt on the narratives people curate around themselves.
Soul Requirement is slower, and less cynical. It’s also got an accompanying music video, featuring a toy’s journey through life. The first single ever to be released by the band (pre Everybody’s Watching and Nobody Cares, in 2023), it’s a fitting introduction for those who are wanting to work their way through the album in order of previous release date. Sunrise starts off almost glittery, with more heavy, scream-style vocals in the centre.
God Damn Requirement is possibly the album’s highlight. It showcases their ability to genre-bend and pair instrumentals and lyrics in a way that really drives home the album’s messages of exploitation and greed. It’s worth noting that a lot of the vocals on this album are almost jagged – witty, scathing and acerbic as the band (seemingly effortlessly) critique society’s current state. Then there’s The Company – a track about the value of ambition juxtaposed with stillness, knowing that the people around you aren’t the type of people who should be there. It’s especially apparent in the line ‘the roads you lead will bring us to our knees’ – a clear statement on how one’s decisions can trap them in a cycle that manifests a cycle of harm. It’s raw and unfiltered, a dark critique that makes the listener pay immediate attention. Blueprint, another that opens with jarring guitar, follows the same themes as the previous two songs – exploring a life lived on autopilot. It’s chaotically paced, almost a listicle at times – referencing topics like addresses, highs, lows and the self in quickfire fashion.
The closer, Unworthy Boys, once again comes in hot. The slowest track on the album, the backing instrumentals are haunting and contemplative as the band wonders why people put their faith in unworthy apparitions. As the album draws to its conclusion, it’s hard to deny that Napoleon Baby has hit the nail on the head. More than a song, Unworthy Boys is a conversation starter – and one that will echo for moments to come.
For a band that is still relatively new on the scene (only a string of singles precluded Everybody’s Watching and Nobody Cares), it seems as if Napoleon Baby has already discovered, and made steps, towards mastering their niche with this record.
Chantal Janice
Everybody’s Watching and Nobody Cares is out now. Buy it here on vinyl
