NML’s sophomore record ‘Isola,’ out on Tellé Records, is a meticulously crafted and intense listening experience where layers of hard hitting techno beats meet wavy melodic elements. The album explores isolation as a concept and the fact that artists often put themselves in a mode that alternates between being at times euphoric and at times dysfunctional, and everything in between, in search for the right sound, the right opening of a filter or the right tempo. After 20 years of making records Nils Martin Larsen also known as NML felt it was about time to dedicate an album to exploring the theme of isolation.

The album moves from the pulsating lonely loop of the title track ‘Isola’ introducing the sonic universe of the record. The slightly more optimistic ‘You’ – looking out at the rest of the world being blissfully unaware. ‘Revive’ pulsates with a tense calmness before opening up the energy that will follow the rest of the record before ‘Centered’ and ‘Circular’ take us deep into spectral anguish. At the end the ambient track ‘Elegy’ sums the whole record up  built by pieces of all the other tracks – symbolizing finalization of the record and presenting it to the listener.

Skewed loops and beautiful sounds coexist and often take drastic turns. ‘Isola’ demands focus or surrender from the listener. Larsen’s background as a producer and film composer is evident in this multifaceted album which can find its natural habitat in both the concert hall and the club basement. Live, the expression unfolds further in depth and format, becoming prolonged, chanting, and insistent in its form. Inspired by the rhythm of both German and British club music and the complex textures of artists like Andy Stott and William Basinski, NML’s second album is complex and intuitive at the same time.

The process has been exploratory, almost to the point of manic, and has required maturation time – it has practically been created 4 times. Ultimately, NML is left with human and acoustic sounds that blend with synthetic material. ‘Isola’ is strict, mechanical, deep, and driving, while this narrative of isolation is emotional and insistent. The record is also paired with a stunning visual universe made by Armand Nasiri and Aria Jadidi that shows the artist viewing and inspecting the album in dystopic large scale rooms filled with projected images.

The ‘Isola’ LP is available here