The Smells and Sounds of Nose Music
Have you stopped to smell the music? With Nose Music, the sonic and olfactive art piece from dublab and The Institute of Art and Olfaction, you can.
Nose Music is a limited edition product containing ten fragrances from dublab and The Institute of Art and Olfaction that explores the intersection between smell and sound. Smell and sound are both ephemeral sensual experiences. You can hear a noise and smell a smell and after that, it’s gone, only existing in your memory. There are things that exist to make noise and scent more tangible, like a vinyl record or bottle of perfume, but records break and perfume runs out. Nose Music really plays into that ephemeral nature of scent by making the ten fragrances sample size and unable to buy anywhere else. There are only 200 Nose Musics in production, so once these fragrances are gone, they’re gone forever.1
Nose Music was released in March 2024, so it is technically old news, but it’s a wonderful product I had to talk about. I read about it from Christina Loff at The Dry Down Diaries, and ever since I was aware of it I could not stop thinking about it. As there are no long in-depth reviews of Nose Music, I feel like it’s my responsibility to share my thoughts on it. Christina Loff explored Nose Music with her friends, and I think this absolutely would be a fun social activity, but I am exploring it alone in my bedroom like a loser.
Nose Music arrives in a white smooth cardboard box that’s an inch or so deep with the same height and width as a vinyl record sleeve. The ten custom fragrances are on the right and blotter strips are on the left, surrounded by the questions, “What does sound smell like? Have you stopped to smell the music?”
The ten albums/fragrances of Nose Music span from 1966-1984, and they are Nina Simone’s Wild is the Wind, The Velvet Underground and Nico’s album of the same name, Os Mutantes’ album of the same name, Alice Coltrane’s World Glass, Brian Eno’s Another Green World, Augustus Pablo and King Tubby’s King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown, Fela Kuti’s Upside Down, Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life, Kraftwerk’s Computer World, and Prince’s Purple Rain. I do like that the selection of albums are from this timeframe as it tells a specific story. I do wonder why these albums were chosen or why this timeline in particular. My theory: these albums are all revolutionary in their own respect, politically and sonically, and we know that for sure since enough time has passed to see their influence on music today.
In my opinion, the choices of all older artists and albums also have to do with how celebrity fragrances were not really a thing until recently. It’s easy to think of a certain musician when you smell something and vice versa, because many musicians have some sort of fragrance of their own or it’s easily searchable to find out what they wear. However, these fragrances are not meant to smell like the artist specifically, but the albums as a whole. They’re meant to encapsulate an entire vibe. Musicians who have their own perfumes usually base them off of an abstract concept rather than one of their albums, with a few exceptions. I also don’t know much about these artists as people, but I can’t imagine a world where Brian Eno for example would want or have a celebrity fragrance deal (Sephora exclusive!).
Nose Music sells for $200. I understand the price, but also understand it’s not the most affordable. I did not buy it myself and was lucky to receive it as a gift. I understand its price as an art piece. A lot of work went into the fragrances. They’re all custom made by independent perfumers who deserve fair compensation. Beautiful art and design went into the packaging as well, but also other fragrance sampler sets with similar amounts of fragrance are not as much money. Often those sampler sets let you redeem a full sized or travel fragrance and you can’t redeem anything physical with Nose Music. I personally think it’s a fair price, considering it’s an independent and unique project not backed by a huge corporation, but I do understand the price point being a turn off when compared to other similarly sized/arranged fragrance products. In an effort to make these fragrances more accessible, I’m going to mention other similar fragrances in each review.
Playing with Nose Music is a particularly exciting experience because some of the fragrances are based off of albums I already love. The rest are based off of ones I have not heard, but I’m excited to try a new album and fragrance out. Follow along as I test each fragrance in chronological order, listen to its matching album in full, and immerse myself in Nose Music.
Album: Wild is the Wind by Nina Simone
Perfumer: Lakenda Wallace (Modern Peasant)
I’m familiar with some of Nina Simone’s songs, but not this album. With only eleven tracks and a runtime of 38 minutes, Nina Simone’s powerful resonant voice is perfect for singing about heartbreak, which she does with ease. “Why Keep on Breaking my Heart” best exemplifies this, she sings as if she’s holding back tears, but still manages to hit every note. Everything is deep, effortless, and emotional.
Upon first spray on the blotter strip, the fragrance reminds me a lot of Paul Sebastian Design, but creamier jasmine and brighter. It has a vintage quality that lasts as it dries down. On skin, it’s shockingly strong at first. I couldn’t smell it for too long because it was too shocking, but as it dries down it fades directly on the skin, its sillage expresses itself more and it gently surrounds you.
The track “Lilac Wine” has a huge influence on this fragrance, as it is very lilac heavy and boozy. It’s not winey, but more rummy or tequila-y. The alcohol note helps ground the fragrance so it’s not so light and generic. This fragrance mostly smells like the title track, “Wild is the Wind.” It’s intense at first, but eventually comfortably drapes itself over your shoulders. It’s all consuming. Nina Simone’s rendition of “Wild is the Wind” has a sense of loss to it that other versions of the song do not, and that comes out in the fragrance as well, how the initial strong scent leaves its ghost behind. There’s still a sense of that initial spray, but it’s different from before.
The listed scent notes put simply are flowers, lilac wine, intoxication, raindrops, and tears. Some of the scent notes in this fragrance and the rest going forward are abstract concepts, which is difficult to literally understand, but also scent notes are just chemicals. There isn’t really coffee or cotton candy in your perfume, it’s made up, so I welcome intoxication as a note. I do smell most of the notes, but struggle with the note of “tears,” not because of the abstraction of it, but because tears are salty and slightly metallic, and I don’t pick up on that.
Wild is the Wind is strong, deep, it’s heartbreak, but not messy. It’s having the confidence to talk about your heartbreak and be honest about it. The soft florals of this fragrance reflect the vulnerability of the subject matter, but the strength of the fragrance is the confidence to sing about it for all to hear.
Album: 9/10
Fragrance: 7/10
Similar fragrances: Paul Sebastian Design
Album: The Velvet Underground and Nico (Self-Titled)
Perfumer: Julianne Sieun Lee (Sieun Scent)
The idea of this fragrance is super exciting to me because I love this album. The Velvet Underground is famous for making music that was ahead of its time and still surprisingly modern. It makes me wonder if the fragrance for this album is going to smell vintage or modern. Or if it’s going to have a “modern classic” quality to it, like Mugler Angel; a revolutionary staple.
The Velvet Underground and Nico is also eleven tracks like the last album, with a longer runtime at 48 minutes. This album was a commercial flop2 in 1967 as its content was considered “too controversial.” “Waiting for the Man” and “Heroin” are about…well. “There She Goes Again” is about a sex worker doing her job and “Venus in Furs” is based on the book of the same name, famously about BDSM. In the 1960s I think people knew about these things and liked to pretend they didn’t.
Banana taffy and jasmine are the strongest notes when first sprayed on the blotter. I spritzed it twice on my wrists and I do unfortunately taste it. The strangest thing happened after a few minutes on my wrist, I originally got the banana taffy and jasmine sensation (with stronger jasmine), but it settled into a beautiful Nag Champa incense scent. As for the blotter, when I returned to it, it developed no incense scent until four songs in. On skin, as the album closed, the fragrance started to brulee, keeping the smokiness, losing the banana, and replacing it with toasted caramel sugar.
The listed notes are sweet overripe banana (obviously inspired by the album cover) under a hot halogen light and cigarette smoke absorbed by leather and fur. I can honestly smell that whole scene, but once the banana fades, it’s gone. It’s the most unique fragrance journey I’ve been on, and the smell will honestly be hard to replicate. Mixing Demeter Fireplace and Vacation’s self-titled fragrance gives a similar idea, and I’ve personally smelled that together, but it’s not as good. I’ll list other fragrances that I have not smelled that I think would be similar as well based on the notes.
This fragrance is like a fun party trick. It feels like “All Tomorrow’s Parties” or “Sunday Morning,” getting ready to go out and ending up somewhere unexpected, intoxicatingly making every mistake possible, and feeling like your life is a sick joke when it’s all done. It turns out the fragrance was nothing like Mugler Angel like I was hoping, but it’s still crazy unique, an adventure in a bottle, perfectly reflecting what the album represents.
Album: 10/10
Fragrance: 10/10
Similar fragrances: Commodity Velvet, Lorenzo Pazzaglia Carbonara, Toskovat’ Born Screaming, Demeter Fireplace layered with Vacation Vacation
Album: Os Mutantes (Self-Titled)
Perfumer: Maxwell Willams (UFO Parfums)
I’ve never heard of Os Mutantes before, the band or album. Os Mutantes came out in 1968 with eleven tracks and a runtime of 36 minutes. They’re a psychedelic rock band from Brazil, and their popularity largely stayed local. They were heavily inspired by João Gilberto, a popular bossa nova artist, as well as Jimi Hendrix and The Beatles. Their music is associated with the Tropicalia movement, which was a political movement rebelling against the Brazilian dictatorship. Wild sound mixing is another signature of the band, best exemplified in the albums opener “Panes Et Circenses” and closer “Ave Genghis Khan.”
Os Mutantes, the fragrance, opens up refreshing, lush, green, pear, dewey, light fougere, and slightly carbonated. This is the first fragrance in the group that I haven’t found to be a little rank at first. It’s a gorgeous perfume that I would also love as a reed diffuser or room spray. The carbonation fades on skin and is replaced by sweet juicy pear, but it stays on the blotter. Unfortunately, this fades on the skin quickly, making me re-apply at the end of the album.
The fougere element is interesting as it fits as something both relaxing and energetic. “A Minha Menina” and “Adeus Maria Fulô” seem to match this fragrance best in terms of bouncy high energy. Os Mutantes’s sound is distinctly 60s when listening now, but this fragrance is very modern.
The official scent notes are banana, papaya, lime, mango, coconut, acai, frangipani, osmanthus, brazilwood, concrete, and LSD. I’m boring and don’t know what LSD smells like or is supposed to, but I definitely pick up on the other notes, although my initial fruit prediction was wrong. Fruity fragrances can often be generic, but this is unique, fresh, and familiar. It’s a lovely fragrance, but not as experimental as the music is.
I do not understand the lyrics in this album as I don’t speak Portuguese, so it’s easy to be cynical towards the fragrance inspiration despite liking the way it smells. Wow a tropical fruit fragrance for a Brazilian band, okay, sure. Sonically, the smells match up. As I oh-so-expertly and accurately Google translated lyrics from the songs, the two most popular subjects are class struggle (“Senhor F” and “Panis et Circenses”) and romance (“O Relógio” and “Baby”.)
The previous two fragrances both borrowed notes from album specific things, for Nina Simone the lyrics of “Lilac Wine” and the Velvet Underground and Nico utilized the banana on the album cover as a note. Os Mutantes does not mention anything in their music or album visuals that can be used as a scent note besides ice cream in their song “Baby,” so I imagine the references for this fragrance go deep.
As I looked into the Tropicália movement though, I am conflicted. This was not Os Mutantes exclusive, but an unofficial mascot of the Tropicália movement was Carmen Miranda, a Portuguese-Brazilian singer, dancer, and actress who made it to Hollywood, was accused of being Americanized, but also being a stereotype of Brazilian culture.3 Her aesthetic was popularized during the Tropicália movement, but it’s hard to tell if it was out of reclamation or mockery. Carmen Miranda specifically popularized the look of a turban adorned with miscellaneous fruits, and I can’t help but think she was more of an inspiration for this fragrance than Os Mutantes. She was an inspiration to them though, so maybe referring to her in this fragrance makes it a deep cut.
An art movement associated with the Tropicália movement is the Brazilian Concrete Art Movement. In a very literal sense, this explains the concrete note in the fragrance. However, concrete art isn’t about literal concrete, rather geometry.4
The fresh and fruity Os Mutantes is lovely to smell and crazy to research. Aspects of Tropicália cover for the lack of lyrical flavors and olfaction in the album. I would align this fragrance more with the political movement of Tropicália than with the band Os Mutantes, but what would Tropicália even be without Os Mutantes?
Album: 9/10
Fragrance: 8/10
Similar fragrances: Tauer Perfumes No. 6 Incense Rosé, Riifs Gemini
Album: World Galaxy by Alice Coltrane
Perfumer: Ashley Eden Kessler (Studio Sentir)
World Galaxy by Alice Coltrane came out in 1972 (or 1971 according to Spotify) with only five tracks with a runtime of 40 minutes. World Galaxy is jazzy, spiritual, cinematic, and grand. The opening track is a notable rendition of “My Favorite Things” originally from The Sound of Music, it’s a pretty normal jazz cover until it turns into something more anxious, setting up the sound of the rest of the album. Something impressive about World Galaxy and Alice Coltrane in general is that she played the piano, organ, harp, tanpura, and percussion on the album.
When first sprayed on the blotter, there’s a strong wood note specifically smelling like when the barrel is tasted in a glass of red wine. There’s also lime, a sharp floral, and a slight milky quality. On skin I notice more of a red wine and barrel fragrance. The milkiness is gone, but the floral and lime notes still made an appearance.
This fragrance technically smells good and I technically enjoy it, but these types of fragrances make me somewhat anxious, which makes sense for the album as most of the music is anxiety inducing; the end of “My Favorite Things,” “Galaxy In Turiya,” and “Galaxy In Satchidananda.” Even the beginning of “A Love Supreme” made me jump at first because I was not expecting to hear a speaking voice as the album has been instrumental so far. The voice in question was the guru Swami Satchidananda and as the song goes on, his speaking role was actually the most calm part.
The copy explaining the scent notes reads:
“Shimmering, neon-lit top notes give way to a series of intangible molecules that make no sense on their own, but together make a cosmic ethereal whole. Tethered to the earth with a hint of patchouli and more than a hint of sandalwood.”
Sandalwood and patchouli are common notes but also so interesting. Sandalwood can come across as creamy, fresh, earthy, or stale for lack of a better word, but always woody. This sandalwood interpretation is stale and closed off, but not in a bad way. Patchouli is one of my favorite notes. It can be earthy, mildly sweet, or even have a cocoa quality about it. I do not smell any patchouli, so I’m guessing it's a more earthy one that got absorbed into the sandalwood.
This fragrance reminded me of Clue Perfumery With the Candlestick. Both have red wine and wood elements that also capture fear and existential dread. World Galaxy is a bit more up to interpretation, as there are minimal lyrics and minimal notes in the copy, but With the Candlestick is meant to smell like being young and afraid during church communion because you’re in a strange place, probably being dragged there by someone else, being told to drink blood. You can imagine how scary that is for a child. I had a sample of this fragrance and gave it to my best friend because it freaked me out, but she’s braver than I, and would appreciate it more.
World Galaxy is great, but definitely not easy listening. Its fragrance perfectly represents that. It’s beautiful, but only really wearable for a specific type of person who’s not afraid of scaring others or themselves. That’s not me.
Album: 8/10
Fragrance: 7/10
Similar fragrances: Clue Perfumery With the Candlestick
Album: Another Green World by Brian Eno
Perfumer: Ashley Eden Kessler (Studio Sentir)
Brian Eno is a musician I really like, but I only ever listen to his music as ambience, so I can only name his music in an abstract way; he has that one album specifically made for airports, he has some songs with David Byrne and an album with Fred again… Brian Eno is currently best known for his ambient music, and that’s why Another Green World was important for his career, it was his first album where ventured into ambient music, still keeping some rock influences. Another Green World has a runtime of 41 minutes and fourteen songs.
Upon first spray on the blotter, it’s loud and green. Vetiver and grass punch you in the nose and anise sneaks up on you from behind. It’s similar to Room 1015 Sweet Leaf without the earthy bite. On skin, the fragrance doesn’t differ much from the blotter, but it’s slightly more sour and resinous. It’s fresh, natural, and futuristic. It becomes non-aggressive quickly and settles into a beautiful juicy green fragrance. It unfortunately fades fast. If the Frutiger Aero aesthetic movement had a smell, it would be Another Green World.
The official notes are:
“A juicy, fruiting top note, with cut grass and a snappy leaf. The base notes are primal, and terrestrial: some moisture, a budding flower, and some space for things to grow.”
This description better aligns with the instrumental tracks on the album like “In Dark Trees,” “Another Green World,” “Little Fishes,” and “Zawinul/Lava,” which make sense because those standout more than the tracks where Brian Eno sings (sorry Brian Eno). Sidenote, from the other music I’ve heard from him, I had no idea he sang. Good for him!
Another Green World is a great album and a lush fragrance. While listening to Another Green World, it’s easy to become reflective and wistful, wishing for a better past, present, and future while laying in tall grass next to a body of water. The wind hits you right.
Album: 7/10
Fragrance: 7/10
Similar fragrances: Room 1015 Sweet Leaf, Lush Jungle (not exact but similar vibe)
Album: King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown by Augustus Pablo & King Tubby
Perfumer: Saskia Wilson-Brown (Institute for Art and Olfaction)
King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown by Augustus Pablo and King Tubby was released in 1976 with 12 tracks and a runtime of 35 minutes. I semi-incorrectly guessed upon first listen that this was a reggae album, but it’s a dub album, which is a subgenre of reggae characterized by heavy use of samples. King Tubby and Augustus Pablo pioneered the genre.
Before I decided that I would listen to every album in conjunction with its matching fragrance, regardless if I knew about the album or not, I thought I would listen to the albums I was unfamiliar with first before trying their fragrances. I only did that with this album and then decided the spontaneity would be more fun. King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown is moody and cinematic (especially the opening track “Keep on Dubbing”), it’s the type of music that makes me want to walk aimlessly around my neighborhood on a summer day to clear my mind. Many of the songs blend together, so I often forget which one I’m listening to or that the song changed at all. I honestly am unsure of what this will smell like, but based on how the music resonates, maybe something like Keiko Mecheri Oliban or Boy Smells Tantrum.
When first sprayed on the blotter, I got strong celery. When the celery calmed down, I was pleasantly introduced to lemon, grapefruit, and black pepper. This clean earthy fragrance would be really sexy for a man during the summer. On my clean skin however, it is a little sweaty and sharp. I often find on myself versus others, fragrances turn peppery on my skin and sometimes sour. That’s the case here. It would not turn sour on the sexy man I made up in my head and mentioned a while ago. Mintiness also made an appearance on my skin and the blotter after a few minutes and on my skin photo-realistic smoked cannabis. I am equally offended and impressed by the cannabis note. I’m impressed because it’s hard to find fragrances that smell like smoking a joint, offended because it’s stereotypical.
The copy reads:
“A green perfume of a different order, this scent proposes an echoing melody with a momentary note of skunky cannabis giving way to scooter exhaust. The scent is rounded out by moments of moist earth, green tropical leaves, and rum.”
The cannabis note is definitely not momentary. It completely took over the fragrance for me. I also can’t help but think this fragrance was not super inspired by this album specifically but rather what the perfumer pictures when thinking about reggae or Jamaica. This is an interesting and impactful album, and although I think the fragrance is interesting too, they don’t match up.
Album: 8/10
Fragrance: 6.5/10
Similar fragrances: Boy Smells Tantrum
Album: Upside Down by Fela Kuti
Perfumer: Saskia Wilson-Brown, assisted by Adedognin Abimbola and Ahahita Mekanik
Upside Down by Fela Kuti is an afrobeat album released in 1976. There are only two songs on the album, titled “Upside Down” and “Go Slow,” and each song is 14.5 minutes long. Fela Kuti was a Nigerian artist and activist whose music criticized the Nigerian government’s treatment of its own citizens. In the 1970s, Nigeria’s government was guilty of holding rigged elections and coups that ultimately made living conditions worse overall for everyone in the country. Fela Kuti was arrested multiple times for revolting, had his house burned down by the government, and had his instruments and recordings destroyed.5
This is the strongest fragrance I’ve smelled in my life. It’s bitter, burning, earthy, and oniony on the blotter and impossible to get out of my nose. Even with the blotter around four feet away from my nose, I still smell it. I wondered if I would like it more on my skin, but when I sprayed it on my skin, it smells exactly the same on the blotter, which is impressive as this is the first fragrance this has happened with. As time went on, the fragrance calmed down a bit and gained an undertone of wet grass.
The official notes for Upside Down are:
“The joyous bready notes of spilled beer on a dance floor, a pinch of earth from a lost homeland, cedarwood from North Africa, cedarwood from America, burning buildings, and - above all - defiance.”
So basically, this is supposed to smell like revolution.
I really enjoyed this album, but was not a fan of the fragrance at first until I watched an interview with Adedognin Abimbola talking about Fela Kuti, and describing the smells that made him think of Fela Kuti. Adedognin Abimbola mentions sweat, as Fela Kuti was a passionate musician and performer and would often sweat so much at his shows that he would perform shirtless or just in underwear. He also worked hard as a revolutionary, which was also physically exhausting. Wood was another note that can both represent the wood of the Yoruba talking drums Fela Kuti played, the wood of the ships enslaved people were kidnapped in, and the military’s wooden batons that were used to attack protestors. The third note mentioned is smoke. The Nigerian government burnt Fela Kuti’s house down and Fela Kuti was also tortured in prison, and some of that torture involved burning. Adedognin Abimbola explains it better than I do, so please watch his full interview.
Upside Down is not meant to smell good, which I honestly appreciate conceptually. Commercial fragrance is always meant to smell good, but thanks to Nose Music I can smell something that tells a very tragic story, something real. I did ultimately have to research why this fragrance smelled the way it did, but out of that I got a history lesson, which is more valuable than something that’s meaningless and smells nice.
Album: 8/10
Fragrance: 9/10
Similar fragrances: There’s nothing else like this
Album: Songs in the Key of Life by Stevie Wonder
Perfumer: Dana El Marsi (Jazmin Saraï)
I love this album, but have not listened to it in a while so I’m excited to revisit it, however “Contusion,” “Sir Duke,” and “All Day Sucker” are always in my rotation.6 In 1976, Songs in the Key of Life was released as a double album, meaning it was on two physical vinyls, and it’s a journey to listen to with a runtime of an hour and forty five minutes (with 21 tracks). Songs in the Key of Life is defined as R&B, soul, pop, progressive soul, and soul jazz and it’s an agreed upon masterpiece. Anyone who’s “into music” will tell you this album is perfect in the most casual way because they assume you already know and that’s scary for the perfumer who had to make a fragrance based off of a perfect album. Will it live up to the music?
I can imagine this fragrance (based on my memory that often fails me) is bright, warm, and earthy. Maybe something like Lush Chelsea Morning or Killian Angel’s Share. Both fragrances are equal parts substantial and sweet. Gourmands with a backbone. There are some existential tracks on this album, like “Saturn,” “Ordinary Pain,” “Have a Talk with God,” and “Village Ghetto Land,” but it’s ultimately uplifting and joyful with tracks like “As,” “Isn’t She Lovely,” “Joy In My Tears,” and “Black Man.”
When first sprayed on the blotter, it’s spicy, fresh, citrusy, gingery, slightly carbonated, with a hint of pineapple and maybe some vetiver. I was expecting this fragrance to be richer, but still good, resonant. On my skin marshmallow, vanilla, woods, and lemon come out more similar to my original prediction, gourmand with a backbone. I wish I could buy a full bottle of this, however, it’s very similar to Lush Chelsea Morning or Super Milk (which I have not smelled as a fragrance yet. I hear it’s not great, but the hair product smells and performs wonderfully).
The official scent notes are patchouli, cedars, ginger, wine, flowering trees, flowing caftans, dried fruit, and pure joy. Dana El Masri perfectly understood the assignment. This fragrance is cozy but celebratory with accessible enjoyment, but still manages to be interesting. I wish I had more to say about it, but it’s so good. I’m happy to be alive to listen to this album and smell this fragrance alongside it.
Album: 10/10
Fragrance: 10/10
Similar fragrances: Lush Chelsea Morning
Album: Computer World by Kraftwerk
Perfumer: Ashley Eden Kessler (Studio Sentir)
I love Kraftwerk. Their whole schtick is that they’re robots. They make music that’s incredibly precise and satisfying, quirky and wistful, and they were the first to do it. Modern electronic music would not exist if it weren’t for Kraftwerk. Computer World, released in 1981, on the surface is just about what music a robot would make, but on a deeper level it’s about feeling like a cog in the machine, the mundanity of capitalism. It’s a tight and polished album with only seven songs and a runtime of 34 minutes.
This album is in my regular rotation and I’ve never noticed any specifically olfactive lyrics, however “Interpol and Deutsche Bank, FBI and Scotland Yard… business, numbers, money, people” may be something. Saying Computer World will smell mechanical and metallic is a basic thing to say, but Kraftwerk’s entire discography is machine precision. Demeter Spacewalk or Supernova by Gritti are how I imagine this fragrance smells based on vibes alone.
When sprayed on the blotter it’s very clean, musk and citrus. If I smelled it in the wild I’d think it was a new Juliette Has a Gun perfume. It’s crisp but surprisingly not super synthetic smelling, which is what I would expect from a Kraftwerk perfume. On skin, the muskiness echoes blurred in TV static. It smells like being lost in an electric tunnel. It best reflects songs like “Numbers” and “Computer World 2,” empty. Despite these scary descriptors, this fragrance does in fact smell commercially good and slightly sweet.
The official notes read:
“Electronic, static, and intangible, this scent captures notes of circuit boards, hot computers, LED lighting and the deep, black night of a superhuman world.”
This fragrance captures the machine elements and human loneliness of the album. It’s beautiful, approachable, yet existential. The musk notes are human and the cold metals are mechanical. I do wish this fragrance explored more of the mechanical elements though as they are lacking in my personal opinion.
Album: 9/10
Fragrance: 7/10
Similar fragrances: Juliette Has a Gun Not a Perfume, Juliette Has a Gun Moscow Mule
Album: Purple Rain by Prince
Perfumer: Rubia Homa
Purple Rain was released by Prince in 1984 with a runtime of 44 minutes with nine songs and a movie which I have not seen. Purple Rain was genre-defying being classified as rock, R&B, pop, funk-pop, and psychedelia. Like every good album, upon release it was accused of being too risque with the song “Darling Nikki” and the music video for “When Doves Cry.” God forbid a man takes a bath.
When first sprayed on the blotter I’m immediately hit with leather, some tobacco, and red licorice. There’s something sweet and waxy, but not sugary. I wasn’t loving it on the blotter, but it’s better on skin. On skin it’s more citrusy, peppery, and fresh. It would fit in with Lush’s catalog perfectly or even Clue Perfumery (even though I think it smells similar to something from neither of these brands.)
I smelled this with my partner and he said he can imagine if Prince wrote a song about them they would smell like this fragrance, especially if they’re sweaty and just got off a motorcycle. He also said it smells like potpourri.
The official scent notes are:
“A dawn motorcycle ride on a cold damp morning. Sweet lingering smells of a lover's skin, a leather jacket, a long entangled night, and a boozy mixture of tobacco and purple fruits.”
I definitely get rain and leather. The fruit comes across as more waxy than fresh to me. It’s a strong fragrance, but it smells more closed off than open.
I asked my partner who he would market this fragrance towards. I wanted to know if he would try to sell it to women, men, or both, but his response was that there are nightclubs in Germany and Canada that are very selective about what the patrons there wear, and the people who attend those clubs are who he would market to. Then I clarified, and he said it was more of a masculine fragrance because of how in your face it is. I also think it leans for masculine, which is surprising because even though Prince was a man, he always makes me think of androgyny first.
Purple Rain is a strong fragrance for someone who doesn’t fear attention and isn’t afraid to cause a scene. It’s dramatic like “When Doves Cry” or “Darling Nikki.” It’s a signature fragrance for a unique and confident person.
Album: 10/10
Fragrance: 6.5/10
Similar fragrances: Amphora Primal Yell
This was a very unique and immersive fragrance journey. Sniffing and listening along to Nose Music is exciting and explorative, and as much as I liked doing it alone, I imagine it’s a fun group activity as well, even if you don’t have the official Nose Music, it could be fun to make your own with fragrances you already own and albums you love. I’m unsure if I should wear and use these fragrances or just store them away forever and use them and their box as decor. When I run out, they’re gone forever, which is scary and exciting to take part in something so limited.
If you like Nose Music and the concept of an immersive olfactive media experience, a brand or product line Nose Music reminds me of is Euphoric Treefort’s Smell-O-Vision Candles which I was lucky enough to encounter at Anime NYC last year. The concept is the same, a candle for your favorite movie or TV show, light it while you watch it, and just like that you’re immersed. They’re less ephemeral than Nose Music though because they’re always available and candles always last longer than perfume in every way.
I would 100% recommend Nose Music to anyone who’s into music or fragrance. It made me listen to music I wouldn’t even know how to find, smell things you can’t find anywhere else, and push me out of my comfort zone, makes me think of fragrance in a different way. Fragrance doesn’t have to smell pretty or be commercially appealing to tell a compelling story. Music is history. Sound and smell are fleeting, but their impact is forever.
This piece would not be possible without my friend Kira. Thank you for proofreading this when I no longer wanted to!
Perfume and music also both have notes! Also there will be footnotes/citations in this because some fragrances/albums needed to be researched more than others.
https://happymag.tv/the-velvet-underground-nico-why-it-mattered/
https://artsandculture.google.com/story/what-is-the-tropic%C3%A1lia-movement/ygUB8lo7KJ2GJQ?hl=en
https://www.moma.org/collection/terms/brazilian-concrete-art-arte-concreto
https://www.nytimes.com/1977/07/24/archives/nigerias-dissident-superstar-fela.html
I’m writing this on January 19, 2025 and “Love’s In Need of Love Today” is hitting harder than usual
I'm glad I took the time to read this!! I love how observant and intentional you were with the entire listening/testing project, but also how invested you are in general in perfume and scents.