NEY

*175 copies limited edition* NEY, a self-titled debut, is an unbridled exploration of a band’s beginning, a tapestry of intimate field recordings, deconstructed fragments and spontaneous encounters, pieced together in two long-form recordings. During the isolated years of the pandemic, Lisa Fabian, aka Mondlane on ‘The Blue Hour’, traced thoughts, sung melodies and fleeting sentiments into an archive of extemporary field recordings and scattered written notes. In dealing with the loss of a loved figure, she began to enfold grief through folktales, tracing her experience into a myriad of mysticised notations. 

Fabian's approach to sound was guided through the lens of a visual art rationale and enriched by music production workshops held at Glasgow's Green Door Studio. In parallel to her journaling of fragmented bedroom recordings, Fabian was presented with her first opportunity to record in the studio. She initiated a collaborative improvised recording session with Matt Robin and Eddie Brooks, originally writing an irresolute score for texture and atmosphere, with no expectation for the recorded session to sound like music.

Guided by the malleable prompts, the trio recorded their first interactions straight to tape. This first encounter is heard on a section of the B-side as well as forming the A-side, 'Gestalt der dämmerung (Figure of dusk)', where spontaneous playing is captured viscerally in the screeching guitars, violent drum strikes and electrostatic cries of dying studio microphones. NEY have since honed their sound through an array of live shows, adopting a more structured framework. Yet they remain guided by the frenetic energy of their live instrumentation and have built upon Fabian’s tradition of gathering fragmented motifs into mutable arrangements.