nick walters: singularity
Francisco Espregueira
We’re big fans of Nick Walters. His new record, Singularity, released by Walters’ imprint D.O.T. Records, builds upon a very interesting discography, which we covered extensively since 2019. On the new album, he presents a suite of forward thinking, cosmic, electronic-jazz experiments, inspired by NASA & the concept of gravitational singularity. Singularity was produced at Walters’ home studio, and was created around an audio sample recorded by NASA in space, then expertly transported back to earth by the trumpeter via a magnificent instrumentation. The album features key contributions from Ruby Rushton drummer Tim Carnegie, 22a Music’s Tenderlonious on flute and some sublime guitar work from Thibaut Remy.
Singularity grew gradually over time in an organic process, using audio samples taken by the Cassini spacecraft as it studied Jupiter, Saturn, and their many moons; whistler waves picked up by NASA's Van Allen Probe as it passed around Earth; and interstellar plasma sounds picked up by the Voyager probe after leaving the Solar System. Nick Walters adds a load of spacey synth sounds through the use of a Juno-106, providing an immersive experience as the rest of the instruments make their appearance. Tim Carnegie, Tenderlonious and Thibaut Remy were key in the process of creating the sonic textures that Walters leaves on the record. There’s a cinematic taste to this album, as everything moves slowly in that deep space where the music from Nick Walters comes. Available on vinyl.
“The concept of the gravitational singularity, thought to be found at the centre of black holes, and also thought to be the initial state of the universe are the points where current scientific understanding breaks down, where general relativity meets quantum mechanics and current theories are unable to comprehend how density or the curvature of spacetime can reach infinite levels.”