Nick Carlisle - Bloody Saturnalia (2023) Hi Res

Nick Carlisle has played an integral role as writer and producer in a handful of projects on the UK DIY music scene over the last 15 years, from Peepholes (Upset The Rhythm Records) 2006-2014, through Bamboo (Upset The Rhythm) 2014-2020, Katy and Nick (Gob Nation) (2017-2022), and Lean Logic (O Genesis Recordings) (2020-present). Following on from last year's largely instrumental album "Häxan - A Soundtrack" (highlights from a QFT-commissioned brand new soundtrack for the 1922 horror film Häxan), Nick has finally gotten round to releasing a solo album of songs.

Bloody Saturnalia takes its title from the book “Defying Hitler” (Sebastian Haffner), where Haffner describes the atmosphere as Germany slid towards Fascism in the 1920s when “all standards lost their value” following the hyper-inflation crisis. The phrase hangs over the album in a few different contexts- there’s the obvious parallel with populism in the US and UK, but also the looming cloud of climate change, feared by many and ignored by others in equal measure (see album opener “Life In A Major Key” and anxious portent “2039”). And finally in a more personal context, in the title track, set in a hospital ward where outside the window the distant carnival atmosphere of New Year’s Eve interrupts the silence with exploding fireworks.

The single “End Of Terrain” was written following the passing of Nick’s Dad: “I took myself off to Iceland for a few days to try and see the Northern Lights, maybe because it seemed like the sort of thing Dad and I might have done - maybe a step up from getting up at 2am to watch lightning storms as we used to do when I was a child. Anyway, I didn’t see a bloody thing, just a faint green tinge only visible in long exposure photos. But! With a little poetic licence, in End Of Terrain the lights are there, dancing in the sky; the souls of recently departed loved ones if you believe the Inuit legend.”

Nick produced the album and handles all the lead vocals, as well as adding his signature keyboards along with occasional guitar, bass and percussion. He’s also joined by past and current collaborators: Rachel Horwood from Bamboo (also Trash Kit and Bas Jan) adds a backing vocal to “A Tear In The Fold”, & Rose Keeler-Schäffeler from Lean Logic (also Keel Her) does the same for “2039”, a version of which which was released as a single and part of the Earth/Percent x Earth Day ’23 Compilation album in April as part of Brian Eno’s Earth/Percent charity initiative. Other players on the album include Foz Foster (The Monochrome Set / David Devant And His Spirit Wife) who adds a selection of guitars and hand bells, not to mention musical saw in “2039”, Marcus Hamblett (Bears Den) who adds bass guitar & brass on several tracks, Aubrey Simpson (Pale Blue Eyes) who plays bass guitar on "Chloe's Brain" as well as providing the photography, and Simon Adams, who plays the drums and percussion throughout.