Nation of Language are a band I have been obsessed with over the past year, a musical trio brimming with unbridled talent. The single best way I could explain this band would be that there is no way to explain them. With introspective lyrics written mostly by frontman Ian Richard Devaney being paired with sensational synthesizer riffs curtsey of Aidan Noell. The husband-and-wife pair are supported by bassist Alex MacKay whose stylish basslines scratch an itch tucked in the back of my head.
There isn’t a new band doing it quite like Nation of Language, the synth-pop sensations carry the ethos of Spandau Ballet and such. I first heard of the Detroit based project during an evening of scouring reddit for some new music to sink my teeth into. I was not aware that I was about to be dragged into the stratosphere with what I found
This is emphasised with their fourth album, A Dance Called Memory. An album which flows seamlessly into their catalogue but stands out so starkly because of the weight carried through each song.
I was blessed with the chance to interview Ian and Aiden ahead of their show at the SWG3 on the 9th of November 2025. Now, without further ado… Here we go!
THE EDIT: This will be your fifth time headlining a show in Glasgow, what keeps you coming back to the city?
Ian: I mean we really love the audiences, even, y’know, the first time we came to the U.K. even when we were down south they kept saying ‘just wait until your get up to Scotland’. I’m not saying that’s like better…
Aiden: It’s proven that they’re good to us here.
Ian: Yeah, there like such an energy that the audience is so willing to throw back at you. Which is just an amazing feeling…
Aiden: I was goanna say I have a memory of one of Ian’s most sickest shows where he was really downtrodden and his voice was barely making it through the end of the set. But the people in the audience at that show were just so supportive and giving it all. And it really helped give you the energy to get through it.
Ian: It did and it’s funny because afterwards people said, ‘That was the best show I’ve ever seen!’ and I have been like ‘I was dying up there’. The case is when I’m on the verge of being so sick that I can barely make a sound people are like ‘The passion!’ I’m like that was just me trying to survive… But I’m glad they had a good time.
THE EDIT: What’s a current highlight from this tour so far?
Ian: I mean we got to go to some new places in the U.S. and when you go to new places you never know what to expect. I remember going to Montanna and that was the first time we played in Montanna and the crowd was so into it right from the jump… Also, Austin, Texas, this time. I would say it was lead by this group of like six friends who just – as soon as we walked out – and that sort of energy infected everybody around them.
Aiden: I was gonna say a friend of mine told me that there the ‘Three Person Rule’ where if you’re in a room and nobody’s dancing if you get three people dancing on the dancefloor they will convince other people join. And I’ve seen that happen in clubs and definitely at that show.
THE EDIT: Is that why there’s three of you in the band?
Aiden: Could be! I think that a dance duo has a lot of work to do…
[Everyone Chuckles]
THE EDIT: Is there a song of your’s which lingers at the back of your head?
Ian: I guess from the new album the two songs which have been running around in the back of my head would be the song Silhouette and then the song Can’t Face Another One… I don’t know I think they were both written so close together in time so my mind just links then. And they both just felt like very effective ways of communicating how I was feeling.
Aiden: I feel like the song that’s sticking with me the most is possibly Can You Reach Me… Which has always been the hardest to listen to because I think it gets to the core of the ‘Dark ages’ as I refer to them to. But performing it live is extremely effective and it stuns me every time we do it to hear Ian’s performance of it vocally.
THE EDIT: Before we finish, not to put you all on the spot, but could you name a favourite Scottish band or artist?
Ian: Belle and Sebastian…
THE EDIT: Oh wow! We have tickets for them!
Ian: Oh Really?
Aiden: Lewis Capaldi…
THE EDIT: Oh yes, love that… He’s headlining TRNSMT this year!
Ian: We actually got asked this question back in Canada I think… Aiden is notorious for not knowing the names of artists and bands, but they were like trading cards when I grew up.
THE EDIT: Well, a band I was wondering to see would pop up is the heavily influential Scottish synth-duo Eurythmics, which my university has a building named after front-woman Annie Lennox because she was our chancellor.
Ian: Oh, how cool!
THE EDIT: Next time we talk I’ll have to ask again to see if the answer has changed slightly!
Aiden: I’ll have to remember…
Ian: Next time I’ll say that!
As I tie off this interview I look back on how kind Ian and Aiden were to chat to me, and I remain grateful for the time they let me have. You can find more from Nation of Language on their site nationoflanguage.com alongside all of their social media.
