31 Days

Nigel Mullaney is a familiar name for followers of the DiN label with his early releases with label boss Ian Boddy under the name of Dub Atomica as well as his album with Ray Sherwin, “Music By Mirrors” (DiN38) under the moniker of Mazmoneth. More recently he has been working with Boddy utilising modular synth systems at several venues including the recently released download album “Schemes & Ruses” (DiNDDL23) recorded at the Capstone Theatre in Liverpool. It thus comes as somewhat of a surprise that “31 Days” is his first solo album on DiN. It’s genesis came about through a musical challenge he set himself to compose a track a day for the entire month of January 2018. In the studio and on the road he explored sonic improvisations using a range of portable modular synthesisers as well as a selection of analogue keyboards and vintage outboard gear. Essentially each of the tracks is a live recording with no overdubs or additional stem mixing. This resulted in over 4 hours of material that Ian Boddy carefully listened through and curated into a track list which represents a 70 minute cross section of Mullaney’s 31 day musical odyssey. As with Boddy’s DiN iNDEX sampler albums the music ebbs and flows from gloriously cinematic orchestral textures through to wonderfully rhythmic drum and sequencer tracks laced with cutting edge sound design and first class production values. To quote Mullaney, “as the days and weeks progressed I found myself connected with my music and art like never before. It simply flowed through me”. The music certainly reflects this with a fresh and vibrant feel that showcases a talented musician at the top of their game.