NIVEN PREVIEWS HIS NEW EP ‘VAN’ WITH THE KALEIDOSCOPIC NEW SINGLE ‘SNOW’
After recently breaking his five-year hiatus to deliver the enigmatic new single ‘Rositsa Walks’ last month, the first new offering lifted from his forthcoming new EP ‘Van’, British electronic producer and visionary Niven now continues the support for his latest collection with the kaleidoscopic new effort ‘Snow’.
Adopting more of that rich and dynamic electronic flair he has become synonymous with over the years, ‘Snow’ opens up his latest EP as the inspired cornerstone of his newest venture. Brimming with rich and textured energy that perfectly reflects his own inventive guise, this new effort is a warm and vibrant return from an artist always looking to push the boundaries of his own aesthetic.
Speaking about ‘Snow’, he said, “This one was written in Voldoley a small village just outside the historic city Veliko Tarnova in Bulgaria. After travelling for 5 months across Europe I created this at a time when I was able to stay in the same place, stillness emerged from the constant unrest and I think the sense of stillness against the backdrop of skittering beats in this represents this.”
His new EP ‘Van’ is a reflection of Niven’s surroundings amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The outbreak was a sign to step back from his role as a director for London promoter Soundcrash, opting to dive back into producing and embark on a solo excursion all at once. The artist touched down in Ireland, France, Spain, Italy, Greece and Bulgaria over the course of his travels, and each piece of the EP’s tracklist either paints a canvas of uncharted territory or captures his headspace amid such a domain.
Niven had this to say about the trek surrounding the EP:
“Recorded on a modular synth when I travelled through Ireland, France, Spain, Italy, Greece & Bulgaria. Most of the tracks were recorded in my self converted ford transit van … The first 2 tracks were recorded in a brief break from travelling at a friend’s house in Vodoley, a small Romani village in Bulgaria. I was still very limited setup wise as I had only what I’d bought with me but at least could leave the synth set-up for a few days at a time.”
All four songs on the ‘Van’ were recorded in one take, this being both a challenge that Niven set out to undertake and a circumstantial by-product of having nothing more than a car battery to rely on for power. The result is a mesmerising project that sounds appropriately raw, as the producer only had moments to capture scenic grandeur and translate it through his interface. This offering is the epitome of a DIY project, with the four tracks within being composed with little more than a small modular synth in the back of a van as the artist traversed Europe in recent years.
Hailing from London, Niven spent much of his time in Bristol against the backdrop of the tail end of the UK dubstep scene before moving back to his home city in 2014, where he began to work on what would become his critically acclaimed ‘Manta Ray’ EP in 2016 and subsequent project ‘Dragonfly’ in the year to follow. He worked with household names such as Pantha Du Prince and GusGus over this period whilst selling out headline dates in London before briefly retreating from production, only gearing himself to return with a bang in coming months.
Niven’s ‘Van’ EP ’ will be available to stream on 10th March 2023, across all streaming platforms through Blank Dust.
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