28/03/25 With NYX, the London-based vocal and electronic collective delivers a debut album that pulses with primal energy and delicate introspection, weaving together the ancient and the futuristic. The result of six years of collaboration and transformation, this record reflects the collective’s signature blend of experimental vocal techniques and electronic alchemy. Co-produced by Marta Salogni and mastered by Heba Kadry, it’s a spellbinding journey through the human experience, crafted not just to be heard but deeply felt. The album opens with “Mother”, an invocation inspired by the first chapter of Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching. This layered plainsong swells with synth drones, violin loops, and whispered ASMR textures, grounding the listener in a wordless essence while calling life into form. From there, NYX ignites with “Through Fire”, a feral anthem of awakening and upheaval featuring additional drum production by Memory Play, and added space and bass layers from Sebastian Gainsbourgh (Vessel). Metallic voices and machine elf harmonies erupt into a post-apocalyptic chorus of pounding bass and techno-driven chants: a sonic cleansing through chaos. Tracks like “Bright Tongues” and “Awe” offer contrasting tones, showcasing NYX’s emotional breadth. “Bright Tongues” spirals through intimate synth pulses and bursts of golden noise, while “Awe” radiates pure wonderment, layering improvisational choir harmonies and lush harp arrangements by Miriam Adefris into a blissful sound bath. On “Truce”, plaintive vocals and violin trade calls across an imagined valley, weaving an acoustic plea for peace into a tapestry of shared humanity. NYX plunges deeper into the underworld with “Silent Union”, an ode to hidden root systems and mycelial harmonies that sustain life unseen. Featuring field recordings from deep inside a Great Oak by sound artist James Bulley, the track’s low rumbles and choral drones evoke the primal rhythms of the Earth itself. “Undercurrent”, co-written by NYX artist Alicia Jane Turner, expands on this theme with a swirling loop of haunting voices and layered strings that come together like crashing waves until the final moment of release. “Everything I Wanted For You” is an ode to love and hope, weaving heavenly vocals with cinematic strings in a euphoric resolve, while “Daughters” is a raw and visceral invocation of rage, resilience, and liberation. Blending kitchen-recorded vocals with the visceral drum work of Sebastian Gainsbourgh (Vessel) and additional bass and space production by Memory Play, the track opens and expands through its intensity, transforming pain into a re-wilding of the spirit and a celebration of untamed, collective power. Women’s voices have traditionally been associated with spirituality and otherworldliness, but NYX reclaims the voice as the purest form of human expression. As its soaring harmonies dissolve into the reverberating echoes of “Dream Baby Dream”, a cover of Suicide’s 1979 song, NYX leaves an indelible mark, reminding us of the radical potential of healing and love. In NYX’s words: “We’re creating a place in which we want to live – connected, belonging, deeply embodied.”
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