Casually Here - Possible Worlds (2022)

London based Casually Here's (AKA Nic Nell) expansive and ambitious second album ‘Possible Worlds’ is set for release via Algebra Records on 1st April. The record’s seven sprawling tracks explore bifurcating possible futures at this precarious point in history, all whilst maintaining an innate sense of optimism. The record explores these themes with acoustic and electronic instruments, analogue hardware, field recordings and sound design, using modern studio tools to push the sonic boundaries of both the dancefloor and home-listening. Written, performed, produced and mixed by Nell himself, ‘Possible Worlds’ was mastered and cut by Guy Davie (Jon Hopkins, Bibio, Nathan Fake etc). The artwork is provided by Belgian artist/architect Luc Shuiten, whose late 70s painting 'La Ville Creuse’ depicts a vision of a future organic city.

Nic Nell is a London-based artist, composer, sound designer and producer/engineer, with a background in art and mathematics. He recently produced Orlando Weeks’ (The Maccabees) acclaimed album 'A Quickening’, and collaborated on an electronic art/dance project with Lawrence Hart via Hotflush. Also one half of Young Colossus and art-pop duo Rainer, it is safe to say the Algebra Records keeps a lot of plates spinning. He runs the label with a focus on supporting emerging artists, helping foster artistic community and context. Releasing music as Casually Here, ‘Possible Worlds’ follows 2015 debut ‘Kept,’ an immersive sound sculpture exploring liminal conscious states, and accompanied by several films. In comparison, ‘Possible Worlds’ is a more organic affair, both woody and earthy, it nestles between digitally imagined textures and pushes the perception of sound beyond the stereo field. “I approach sound production as the making of forms & worlds, hearing sound as colour, texture & shape,” explains Nell, who is passionate about the long-term future of life and concerned about the existential risks to it: “For me, living in closer harmony with nature is key to our long term survival”.

Centred around piano and an Oberheim OB-Xa synth, album opener ‘Pale Blue Dot’ references Voyager 2’s famous photo of the Earth as a distant pinprick of light, taken through the rings of Saturn as it swept out of the solar system as a poignant reminder of the beauty and precariousness of life in our universe. ‘Apex’ is the spiritual and emotional centrepiece of the album, inspired by a transcendent dancefloor experience, evoking feelings of optimism and joy of not only belonging to greater humanity, but of being a part of all life on Earth. ‘Crickets’ was born from a field recording made in Liwonde, Malawi, its off-kilter rhythms juxtaposed by ambient calm. ‘A 2067’ is a dystopian journey into surveillance AI, and ‘The Great Filter’ – in reference to the Fermi Paradox - is a galactic cheer to the future. Conjuring images of iridescent pinks, meditative penultimate track ‘Rhubarb Skies’ ends in banks of trilling clarinets, evoking flocks of flamingos nesting in the ice lakes of the Bolivian Altiplano, and final track ‘Fête’ has humanity at its close, looking back at life on earth, the zipping electronic sounds representing our digital ancestors in drone form.

"Feelings of wonder, beauty and awe are so hard to hold on to. Making this album has been like an ember of hope that I've kept stoked. In turn, I hope ‘Possible Worlds' helps listeners to look upwards and outwards, and to feel closer to those invaluable feelings of optimism for the future."