Nym: “Countermagic”
RIYL: The sad lyricism of Tycho; the idea of Ratatat doing chamber music.
Durham’s Lewis Scaife, aka Nym, describes his electronic music as “beat-driven surrealism, where synthesizers, samples, field recordings, and studio musicians fade in and out of a real imagined space.” (We profiled him after the release of his 2017 LP, Lilac Chaser.) On Monday, January 6, he’s back with the excellent Countermagic, where he draws his own shapes around the edges of classic downtempo, electronic post-rock, and helium-voiced EDM.
Today, we’re premiering the title track, a clockwork dream of violin, ukulele, and guitar (performed by Morgan Fleming, Melissa Rakowitz, and Zach Scribner, respectively). The beat framework is all cool precision, but the interior is warm and organic with liquid zooms, aspirated vowels, and slanted cuts. It’s characteristic of Nym’s knack for teasing a lot of musicality out of a subtle atmosphere. Listen below, cop the album Monday, and check out the release party at Arcana on February 1.
