I’ve loved Nathan Fake’s sound since his 2005 album “Drowning In A Sea Of Love.” It was a beautifully produced album, and is still one of my favourite electronic albums to this day. Tracks such as Stops, The Sky Was Pink and You Are Here are such lovely songs, perfect for a sunny summer’s day listening to whilst lazing around without a care in the world.

Since that excellent debut album, Nathan produced 2 further albums on Border Community Hard Islands (2009) and Steam Days (2012), before hitting somewhat of a writers block. Thankfully, he’s back with his latest offering Providence on Ninja Tune, released on March 10.

Recorded during the first 6 months of 2016 in Nathan’s home studio, Providence offers a first half of emotive, ambient and brilliant melodic tracks including HoursDaysMonthsSeasons, DEGREELESSNESS (featuring Prurient) – for us the stand out track from the album; an upbeat and almost cathedral like 8 minute builder. The album then takes a different route – darker, deeper and more intense. There’s some amazing bleepy sounds to be heard in SmallCityLights and Radio Spiritworld, before CONNECTIVITY brings about a tempo increase and the bliss female vocal of RVK (featuring Raphaelle).

“It’s the quickest album I’ve written and because of that it’s got a close thread running throughout,” says Nathan of his creative process. It also has a distinct sonic signature as a result of the producer refreshing his set-up. “I was feeling nostalgic and bought a cheap Korg Prophecy on a whim and it ended up being the backbone of the album,” he explains. “I remember reading an article in Sound On Sound back in 1995-96 and I didn’t really know much about music production then, but I remember thinking that it must be AMAZING. As it turns out, it’s actually quite crap really… It’s very hard to program, looks unimpressive, doesn’t sound great [laughs], but I recorded it through loads of different pre-amps and tape and mixers and roughed it up. I’m always intrigued by low-end gear, I like the challenge and the limitations it poses.”

Coinciding with the new album, Nathan is touring a new AV live set, so we headed to Liverpool last night (March 29) to check it out. A rainy night in a small warehouse not far from Liverpool’s docks (24 Kitchen Street) was the scene for an intimate gig, full of beautifully ambient, progressive sounds. Nathan was energetic throughout, constantly twiddling nobs and synths, mixing in between various styles of techno, breaks and electronica, all with plenty of luscious melodies. Check out a couple of videos here below;

You can purchase Providence in various forms here;

https://ninjatune.net/release/nathan-fake/providence

And catch Nathan on the remaining dates of his tour;

Mar 30 Leeds @ Headrow House

Mar 31 Glasgow @ Stereo

Apr 01 Manchester @ Soup Kitchen

Apr 05 Bristol @ The Lantern

Apr 06 Ramsgate @ Music Hall

Apr 07 London @ ICA

Apr 08 Brighton @ Patterns

Apr 12 Nottingham @ Contemporary Art Gallery

Apr 13 Newcastle @ Cluny

Apr 28 Paris @ Café de la Danse

Apr 29 Geneva @ La Gravière

May 30 Brussels @ Bozar Night

May 17 Shanghai @ Dada

May 18 Beijing @ Dada

May 19 Tokyo @ Circus

May 20 Kyoto @ Star Festival

May 26 Rome @ Spring Attitude Festival

May 27 Lyon @ Nuits Sonores

Aug 03 Amsterdam @ Dekmantel

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