New Album: NICKO, ‘24|09|24’

NICKO Announces ‘24|09|24’ – A Lo-Fi, Experimental Bass & Synth Album Created in a Single Day…

What happens when you let go of the urge to overthink and trust your instincts? For virtuoso bassist and electronic/ambient producer NICKO, the result is ‘24|09|24’ – a ten-track collection of experimental pieces all conceived, recorded and mixed in less than 24 hours, inspired in part by pondering a more literal meaning to Rick Rubin’s idea that making an album is “like a diary entry”.

Every track features the same instrumentation: one synth and two bass guitar parts – one played on his fretless Sandberg, the other on his extended-range Marleaux. Everything was recorded without a click track and without overthinking – a personal rebellion against perfectionism. “I just played, recorded, and moved on,” NICKO explains. “But the most important thing was that I was listening at every stage. At the risk of sounding like I need medical attention, it felt almost as though the ideas themselves were letting me know when they were ready to be recorded, and similarly when it was time to stop and move on. I barely feel like I had anything to do with it… most of the time I was just listening”.

The concept behind the process was simple: Improvise (or “noodle around” as NICKO puts it) on the fretless until something sticks, add effects and hit ‘record’, and immediately move on when it felt “done”. Once ten fretless parts were laid down – which happened surprisingly quickly – repeat the process with the Marleaux for a layer of semi-improvised melody, and then again once more with the synth to add a final element of texture. Finalising the effects and mixing were the final parts of the process, with each track getting attention in the same order in which they were recorded with two simple questions in mind: Can everything be heard, and does anything in this sound objectively terrible? If these criteria were met, it was time to move on to the next track.

Some pieces came together very quickly, some took a little longer, but the key is that once they reached a certain point, they were left alone. “I didn’t analyse anything… in fact, I refused to – that was the whole point of this,” says NICKO. “I didn’t even listen back to what I’d played once I’d recorded the take I felt happy with, which is something I’ve never done before. I just trusted that I was happy with it for a reason in that moment and kept going. It’s interesting to have found giving myself rules like that so creatively liberating and, dare I say, therapeutic”.

The album order remains chronological; the tracks are in the same order in which they were created. The fourth in particular, ‘Something Profound’, perfectly embodies the spirit of the album. “Each part was recorded on their respective first-takes on this one. If you consider that I’d put down ten fretless ideas, and this point was the fourth Marleaux part I was adding in what felt like no time at all, you may understand I was feeling very connected to music at that moment – it was deeply profound to me. Combined with feeling as if the music sounded like something from an ancient ritual, or like conjuring some sort of archaic, long-forgotten knowledge, this track named itself”.

‘24|09|24’ arrives on all digital platforms and Bandcamp on April 4th 2025. Visit nickonickonicko.net to find out more