Just Another Dark Age

Nunbient is a writing collaboration with my lifelong friend and brilliant musician Matt Baber. 

The album Just Another Dark Age started as an experiment, processing field recordings collected for the Songs For Days sessions.

Whilst making Songs For Days, I got into the habit of recording the sounds of my neighbourhood. I set up mics in the front yard, trailing the cables through bushes and around flower pots to my studio room. The world sounds extraordinary with a pair of microphones for ears and a good set of headphones!

Over several months I captured hours of recordings. Bamboo scraping on the window, crows calling, the distant yells of kids in the school playground with lazy cars passing.

A microphone is like a magnifying glass for sound. But slowing down a recording is like seeing the world through a microscope. All the minute details become audible and take on a strange new character. 

These processed recordings became the sonic foundation for a series of dark, cinematic compositions that draw influence from artists like Bass Communion, Philip Glass and Steve Reich.

The album features as the soundtrack to a documentary series written and produced by New Zealand documentary producer Sam Coely.