February 9, 2023 - First Terrace
During the day, our minds go to the moon. And they return to the earth at night.
Experimental artist NikNak’s Night EP ruminates on the concept of humanity and the dark, the journey from our collective illusion during waking hours to an animalistic awareness of our fragility as proximity increases to that lonely, primal task—sleep.
Five rich soundscapes, built on a turntable, are artfully designed to lure you into a meditative headspace, with titles that promise what they deliver: Fireflies in hand, WAILS in the distance that spike your adrenaline during a thunderstorm, the elusive REM state, Murmurs of something remembered, reimagined by your recall, and a decision we all made together once that seems incomprehensible now when we look at it too closely.
Softly, slowly, a lullaby, you are drifting through a forest of sound, calm, alert, exposed, in the wild, present, engaged. NikNak’s sensitivity to noise, knowing exactly what auditory menagerie will generate raw feelings in the listener, and exactly what timing will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up, is astounding. I don’t typically have patience for this sort of audio abstraction, but I can listen to Night EP on repeat all day, thoughts wandering in the expansive landscape NikNak built for me to explore. These tracks feel alive, as though you are engulfed in their breath and their heartbeats. The record scratches, but you’ll quickly forget about the turntable and get lost in the velvety, mechanical beauty of NikNak’s own night music. ☔