Nick Leng - Spirals (2022) Hi-Res

In songwriting, as with any other medium, it can be difficult to discern where the dividing line is between one project and another. But with music, that line generally comes into play when isolating individual tracks that adhere to a certain theme in order to create a focused collection of songs to release together. In Nick Leng’s case, his newest single packed many of those ideas into a single song, which paves the way for a full LP of similarly wild experimentation. “With ‘Spirals,’ after listening to it, I realized it’s almost like four songs in one, and that sitting alone it’s almost like a full meal,” he shares.

The song—which arrives ahead of a newly announced full-length of the same name to be released July 22—kicks off as a modest piano ballad that gradually expands and takes on new and unexpected shapes over the course of its five minutes of orchestral grooves, anticipatory crescendos, and flashy payoffs. “This particular song was quite the journey,” he adds. “It took dozens of iterations before the song was finished, as well as building new relationships and saying yes to opportunities.”

Expanding on his songwriting process, he continues: “Usually I’ll set off to try to create a spark, then follow wherever that leads. That definitely happened with ‘Spirals.’ There’s a breakdown section at the end of the song that was the first thing that came about, then I spent months working out the piano parts, production, and arrangement. Sometimes songs just lead me down a rabbit hole and I strap in and see where we are going to go. It’s quite fun, especially if you’re open to whatever might happen.”