Nick Evans Mowery 'Kyd' ALBUM REVIEW - Murfreesboro Pulse
BY BRYCE HARMON
At first, Nick Evans Mowery’s new album, Kyd, is somewhat of a mystery. It’s difficult to pinpoint the exact motivation after the first few tracks, but ultimately, Kyd is a straight- up, no-holes-in-the-boat DIY release, Murfreesboro producer-singer-songwriter Mowery’s latest in his 30-year and running career, released out of Tangent Boy Studios in affiliation with The Nick Evans Mowery Project, exemplifying NEMP as an acronym for Nuclear Electro Magnetic Pulse, as well as Nick Evans Mowery Project.
“Move On Baby,” a radio and grocery store cut, urges that get-out/figure-it-out youthfulness, pop-stylized with upbeat, layered and tight backing vocals, kicking up a modern radio dance track behind Mowery’s lead vocals, while getting a bit disco-y.
The following jam, “Lucid Dream,” takes a protective stance, as though for a daughter about to leave the nest. Here, NEM displays some great guitar bends and keys and ridiculously clean mixing, with muffled echo effects.
This guy has got to have a daughter for whom he’s singing, offering better examples than her frustrations as they’re driving to school in “Crush,” encapsulating a morning in the car, talking with Dad about stuff going on in life. It would seem so innocent to write these lyrics outside of having a daughter. Regardless, this guy’s production value is uncanny.
Continuing to try and make sense of it all, the title track, “Kyd (Leave the Radio On)” features horn-section keys in this swinging, doo-wop rocker with a poppy feel reminiscent of The Features—Mowery’s punctuating vocal excitement is similar to that of the Murfreesboro band’s Matt Pelham. On “Market Square Girl,” Mowery’s Billy Joel nod, he lovingly takes notice of his daughter’s mother, way back when.
“Use It, Lose It, Gone,” stands as the theme to the album, and reason for doing everything. It’s a great song and sounds like what a peacock looks like walking around, with the psychedelic guitar pedal effects Mowery’s developed.
Closing out the album, “Wrong” has an easygoing, modern-worship feel. The guitar strummer reveals an apology for a time he left—We both know what’d we do if it fades away and I . . . . He almost apologizes, but doesn’t because of the fear. So he does what he does best and writes a song about it, and produces it wonderfully.
Ultimately, Kyd stands as the absolute fatherly motivation to depict a better way of handling things, written into a pop album form with exceptional versatility and a production value acquired after 30 years of developing expertise.
It’s all radio hits. Kyd could be marketed anywhere, as it’s all formulaic and catchy.
Find Nick Evan Mowery’s Kyd at thenemproject.com; check out his bio for a rap-sheet of TV and movie placements, from tracks on shows such as The Big Bang Theoryand Shameless, to numerous contributions to The Young and The Restless, as well as score work for Star Trek—Strange New Worlds, The Americans and The Mindy Project.
https://boropulse.com/2026/02/nick-evans-mowery-kyd/