A mixture of neoclassical and electronic on PreterMit’s new album: “Stilted Life Conspiracy Theory”
Some albums completely reject the idea of being categorized by just one genre or pace. That’s the case with Nick Maclean-Bowman’s new album entitled Stilted Life Conspiracy Theory. The album has been 3 years in the making and it takes the listener on a journey between two genres that don’t normally mix.
From catchy indie-electronic cuts that would be at home on the dance floor, to straight up piano-led jazz, Stilted Life Conspiracy Theory is both pleasingly undefinable as well as engagingly unpredictable. On first listen, I thought the album switched off by accident to something new. Then the track would finish and the genre would change again. It was a thrill to guess where the album was going to take you next.
PreterMit, Nick’s artist moniker, is as curious as his sound. A less used word in English these days, “pretermit” means “to leave undone or neglect. To let pass without mention or notice.” Which to me is the opposite of the music he creates — it’s impossible not to notice the sound he creates. It might be hard to put your finger on why it moves you, but there’s no denying that it does.
The concept of the album came about when Nick challenged himself to write a collection of songs that explored and blended elements of classical music with electronic music from the mid 2000s.
“The idea was to have songs incorporate these influences differently, with songs leaning in different directions but still making sense as a cohesive whole,” explains Nick when talking about how the recording process began. “As I continued to work on the album over the next 3 years, the songs came to have much deeper meaning to me than experiments in genre and technique. As life went on and I had new experiences they imposed themselves on these songs. I usually try to avoid the question when asked what my instrumental music is about because I’m often not sure. Sometimes I can tie my music to vague feelings or concepts but in the case of this album each song carries a very specific meaning to me.”
“I can’t explain exactly when the song “Alien Bridges” came to represent my gentrifying neighbourhood, or “Backpack Kids” became a story about walking hand in hand with a loved one for a day out on the town, but as I began to make these connections, I leaned into them in the music. That’s why the song “Catalyst (down)” is filled with the sound of spinning bike wheels, and why “Just Talkin” has a single repeated vocal line across three parts. The songs became very personal and very specific, and that’s a new experience for me.”
My favorite tracks on the album are Catalyst (Down), C’est Siick, Just Talkin (Part 2), and Backpack Kids. But I’m sure that each person will take something completely different away from the experience. If you like what you hear, head over to the PreterMit Bandcamp page to buy the album on Limited Edition CD or Cassette.
