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Out tomorrow, ‘Pale Blue Dot’ is the opening track and first single to be taken from Casually Here’s upcoming album, ‘Possible Worlds’. The Algebra Records head will release his ambitious second solo album on 1st April.
Casually Here (AKA Nic Nell) is an 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 released as a series of EPs on Hotflush, which received huge support in the dance world from the likes of George Fitzgerald, Sasha and The Blessed Madonna. Nic is also one half of both Young Colossus and art pop duo Rainer.
‘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. Centred around piano and an Oberheim OB-Xa synth, propulsive percussion evolves into spatial sound design as we zoom out past planetary bodies and swing through Saturn’s rings before looking back and, in the words of Carl Sagan, seeing Earth as ‘a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam’, with all of life that has ever existed there, and for all we know anywhere else. It’s a poignant reminder of the beauty and precariousness of life in our universe. From wonder and flourishing to darker surveillance A.I. dystopian paths, Nic’s upcoming album ‘Possible Worlds’ explores bifurcating possible futures at this precarious point in history, ending on feelings of optimism. Positive paths include making the most of scientific and technological breakthroughs whilst living in closer harmony with nature and the biosphere. Belgian artist/architect Luc Shuiten, whose work ties in philosophically with the themes of the album, has kindly given permission for his late 1970s vision of a future organic city ‘La Ville Creuse’ to be used as the artwork. The record explores these themes with a combination of acoustic and electronic instrumentation, analog hardware and sound design. Using the modern tools of the studio, it aims to push the sonic boundaries of both the dance floor and the headphone/home listening experience. Written, performed, produced and mixed by Casually Here, ‘Possible Worlds’ was mastered and cut by Guy Davie (Jon Hopkins, Bibio, Nathan Fake etc). It follows Casually Here’s 2015 debut Kept, an immersive sound sculpture exploring liminal conscious states and accompanied by several films. Nic founded and runs Algebra Records with a focus on supporting emerging artists* practically, technically and collegiately to help foster artistic community and context.
Release date: January 12th, 2021.