Some collaborations even skip the usual steps of meeting in a boardroom or studio and are born from the spark itself. For London-born multidisciplinary artist Nadeem Din Gabisi, that spark was a flame when French composer Jea Gabriel Becker (i.e., Lux Prima) listened to Nadeem's track "Splash" and sent Nadeem a message through Instagram. This collaboration was the outcome of their initial contact, which was based on an exchange of ideas, mutual intrigue, and heading beyond the recognizable sound to discover more in the realm of audio art. It turned out to be their premiere combined release "Nowhere Land, " which extends beyond the concept of a mere single, as it is an audio film, like journey of personal exploration.
"Nowhere Land" confronts the alleys of two completely different artistic quivers, head to head. Nadeem, a London native who was reared with Sierra Leonean cultural influences, has focused the major part of his artistic career on the investigation of the areas of identity, displacement, trauma, and the emotional landscapes of the African Diaspora through various media. Pitchfork has given a thumbs up to his debut EP POOL and subsequent singles, which have also been lauded by Nataal, Guap Magazine, BBC6 Music, and Observer Magazine. This acknowledgment has strengthened Nadeem as a voice that is not shy of complexity but rather embraces them boldly.
In comparison to this, Lux Prima considers sound with the experimental French perspective. Becker, the genius behind the scores of JR's Women Are Heroes and Les Ailes Collees, the French drama that gained a lot of acclaim, lives at the cross-section of harmony and chaos. To introduce dissonance, texture, and an unpredictable kind of beauty, he, under Lux Prima, transforms the electronic music into quite a different territory than most listeners might expect. His work, which is supported by the likes of The Quietus, Optimo, Tim Sweeney, and DJ Mag, is imaginative rather than following the set norms. Together, they create something startlingly new.
“Nowhere Land” revolves around the themes of bereavement, estrangement, and fatherhood, as well as the fragile framework of memory. Nadeem's lyrics have the feel of a personal journal, loving, puzzled, and totally stripped to their emotional nature. He talks about heritage, of the serfdom one is born into, and of the oddest kind of guilt that comes with becoming and at the same time with unbecoming oneself. There is surprise mingled with his delivery, but at the same time, there is sorrow. The track is actually the capturing of the very moment when a person's identity becomes vague, life is still too big and, at the same time, unbearably tiny.
Lux Prima's work is not merely an addition to the feeling, but it is the feeling itself. The musical environment is made in his East London studio, and it is full of layers of heavily affected vocal storms, rich synths, chopped-up samples, and loud drums. The remarkable tonality of Dani Croston's background vocals is there to accompany the track as the rays of light break through the mist. Everything seems done on purpose, not only the thoroughness of the arrangement but also the way silence and distortion are next to each other.
These are not typical electronic music but rather new ones, with a different perspective that views electronic music not as an escapist tool but rather as a way of questioning. "Nowhere Land" is the first collaboration of their upcoming self-titled EP on SAS Recording, and it is like a declaration of principles for them, daring, truthful, and artistically free. It is having a look at oneself through the metaphor of a voyage, among other things, the process of loosening up and, eventually, taking back control. Lux Prima and Nadeem Din, Gabisi are not simply the ones who write songs together, they are the ones who fabricate worlds, which are unsettling, lovely, and to the last degree unforgettable.